The life of Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Bentham, K.S.G. ...

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SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM

LONDON

PRINTED BX SPOTTISWOODE AND CO.

NEW-STREET SQUAEE

THE LIFE

OF

BRIGADIER- GENERAL

SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM, K.S.G.

FORMERLY

INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF NAVAL WORKS

IRATELY

A COMMISSIONER OF HIS MAJESTY'S NAVY

■WITH THE DISTINCT DUTY OF

CIVIL ARCHITECT AND ENGINEER OF THE NAVY

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BY HIS WIDOW

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M. S. BENTHAM

LONDON
LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, AND ROBERTS

1862

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PREFACE.

The following Memoirs will give some account of a
life of singular activity, attended by great successes,
yet not without vexations and disappointments. The
latter involved some personal imputations, from which
it was necessary to vindicate the memory of Sir
Samuel Bentham ; while the results of his incessant
labours have tended to diminish the burdens, or to
add to the resources of the country. To him are to
be traced some of the most important changes in
Naval Administration ; and to him we are indebted
for many inventions which have effected an incal-
culable saving in pubhc expenditure, as weU as for
Dockyard and other reforms which closed the
sources of many long-continued and most pernicious
abuses.

Official opposition, which sought to uphold all
vested interests, prevented him from carrying out
many things which he had at heart ; while, even in
what he was enabled to accomplish, he had to
struggle with the obstacles furnished by a passive
resistance, and sometimes with personal animosity.

A 4

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VI PKEFACE.

But at this distance of time a plain narrative of his
intentions and his acts can cause no pain or injury
to those who may have differed from him or opposed
him, while they who may personally have known
and valued him will not regret that a narrative so
fully justifying all his acts, so clearly attesting the
wisdom of his conclusions, should be laid before the
public. Many things which he first asserted to be
abuses have, since that time, been acknowledged to
be such ; and if others which he strove to check or to
suppress still continue, no evil can arise from allow-
ing his protest to be heard.

ISTo full account of his position at the Navy Board,
and with reference to the Admiralty, has yet been
published. While the following memoir furnishes a
complete explanation of all the events which preceded
and accompanied the abolition of his office, and of
the various motives and influences which animated
his opponents, this vindication is the more conclu-
sive, as every statement rests not merely on his own
assertions in letters and journals, but can be attested
by public and official documents, as well as by his
works themselves.

Few men have followed out the object of their
lives with such unswerving perseverance ; few haw
shown greater fertility of invention, a wider range
of observation, and a keener insight into the adapta-
tion of means to ends. Few have worked with more
unwearied energy against difficulties which to men

PREFACE. VLL

of less vigorous mind, and less disinterested integrity,
would have been overwhelming.

The task of vindicating his memory from every
aspersion has been accomplished by his widow, who
has shown in the following narrative a rare compre-
hension of the most minute details, as well as of the
general character of the technical works in which
her husband was engaged. . If her last years were
occupied with that which clearly was to her a labour
of love, her full knowledge of mechanical science,
and her clear apprehension of the general bearing
and results of mechanical designs, show at the same
time that she was actuated by no mere feelings of a
partial affection. She has defended the acts of her
husband, where they appeared to need any defence,
on grounds which can be examined by all acquainted
with such subjects, and on which they can pronounce
their judgment whether of approval or disappro-
bation.

The manuscript of this work, which had not
been corrected throughout at Lady Bentham's death,
was intrusted to the care of her youngest daughter,
who, much as she desired to carry out her mother's
wishes, would have shrunk from the responsibility of
publishing the Memoirs in their imperfect state, but
for the kind encouragement which she has received
from eminent engineers.

NOTE BY LADY BENTHAM.

The materials from which the following Memoirs have
been drawn up, consist, previously to the year 1790, of
private letters and of parts of a journal kept during travels
in Siberia and to the frontiers of China; and, after his
return to England, of his patents ; and, from the time of
his re-eno-a^ements in the British Service, of official docu-
ments, and a journal of proceedings, in which were noticed
transactions with the First Lords of the Admiralty and
other members of that Board ; as also with other officers
in the Naval Department, and with the Speaker of the
House of Commons. For a later period many documents
have been consulted which may be considered as official^
since they are on record at the Admiralty ; but throughout
the whole nothing is stated which cannot be proved to be
correct.

X NOTE.

Sir Samuel Bentham published the following pamphlets,
now out of print; but in addition to those he had dis-
tributed, a copy of each was presented by his widow to the
Libraries of the Admiralty, the War Office, the Great
Seal Patent Office, the United Service Institution, the
Kensington Museum, and the Society of Arts : —

"Naval Papers, containing (1) Correspondence on the Subject of
various Improvements in His Majesty's Dockyards, and relative
to the Institution of the Office of Inspector-General of Naval
Works."

" (2) Letters and Papers relative to the Mode of arming Vessels of
War."

" (3) A Statement of Services rendered in the Civil Department of
the Navy."

" Letters on Certain Experimental Vessels, on Contracts for providing
Naval Stores," &c.

"Answers to the Objections of the Comptroller of the Navy."

" Desiderata in a Naval Arsenal, or an Indication of several Particulars
in the Formation or Improvement of Naval Arsenals ; together
with a Plan for the Improvement of the Naval Arsenal at
Sheerness."

" Representations on the Causes of Decay in Ships of War, with pro-
posals for effecting the due Seasoning of Timber," &c.

" Services rendered in the Civil Department of the Navy, in investi-
gating Abuses and Imperfections in effecting Improvements in the
System of Management, the Formation of Naval Arsenals, the
Construction of Vessels of War, &c. &c. &c. 1813."

u Letter to Lord Viscount Melville on the real Causes of the Defeat
of the English Flotilla on the Lake Erie. 1814."

" Naval Essays ; or Essays on the Management of Public Concerns,
as exemplified in the Naval Department, considered as a Branch
of the Business of Warfare. 1828."

"Financial Reform Scrutinised, in a Letter to Sir Henry Parnell,
Bart., M.P. 1830."

" On the Aim and Exercise of Artillery. 1830."
" Notes on the Naval Encounters of the Rus« iauri and Turks in 1788,
1829." (United Service Journal.)

" On the Diminution of Expenditure without impairing the Efficiency
of the Naval and Military Establishments." (Ibid.)

"Breakwaters. — Sir Samuel Bentham's Plans. 1814." (Mechanic's
Magazine.)

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE I.

Birth and Parentage of Samuel Bentham — Education at Westminster
School — Apprenticeship under the Master-Shipwright of Woolwich
Dockyard — He is removed to Chatham Yard — Proposal to the Navy
Board for an improved Chain Pump — Eesidence at Caen — Return to
London — Introduction to Sir Hugh Palliser, and Captain Jarvis, after-
wards Lord St. Vincent — Offer from Captain Bazely of H.M.S. Nymph
declined — Leaves England, August, 1779; visits Rotterdam and the
Hague, Amsterdam, Mittau, &c. ...... Page 1

CHAPTER II.

Arrival at St. Petersburg — Reception by Sir James Harris, the English
Ambassador — He declines the Offer of the Director- Generalship of Marine
Works — Visit to Cronstadt, Moscow, and Cherson — Return to St.
Petersburg — Sets out to visit the great Factories and Mines of Russia,
Feb. 1781 — Ship-building at Archangel — Catherinaburg — Crosses the
Ural Mountains into Siberia — Mines at Verskatouria — Sect of the
Raskolniks — Visit to Nijni Taghil — He constructs a Vehicle to serve
both as Boat and Carriage — Invents a Machine for Planing Wood —
Raskolnik Marriage Rites — Raskolnik Resistance to Persecution — Gene-
ral Aspect of the Country 15

CHAPTER in.

Perme — Improvements in Mining Pumps — Cavern near Perme — Collection
of Minerals — Arrival at Tobolsk, January, 1782 — Introduction to the
Anchree — Population of Siberia — State of Crime — Arrival at Krasno-
jarseh — Mines at Narchinsk — The Chinese Frontier — Kiaehta — Visit
to the Chinese Governor — Chinese Temples and Images — Fortune-telling
— Intercourse between Russians and Chinese .... 36

XU CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV

Condition and Treatment of Exiles in Siberia — He descends the Angora
from Irkutsk — Letter to his Brother Jeremy Bentham — Fanaticism of
Russian Peasants — Appeal on the Murder of a Tonguse — Slave Trade
of the Kirgees — Fertility of Siberia — He visits Nijni Novgorod —
Returns to St. Petersburg, and presents a Report to the Empress —
Declines Lord Shelburne's Offer of a Commissionership of the Navy —
Sir James Harris leaves Bentham as Charge d' Affaires at St. Petersburg
— He is appointed a " Conseiller de la Cour," and entrusted -with the
Works of the Fontanha Canal — Engagement with the Niece of Prince
" Galitzin — Letter of Sir James Harris — The Engagement finally broken
off — He is appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in the Russian Army, with the
Command of the Southern Part of the Country . . . Page 57

CHAPTER V.

Journey to the Crimea — He is settled for a Time at Cricheff — Preparations
for Ship-building — Extent of his Engagements — Military Duties —
Manufacture of Steel — Building of the River Yacht Vermicular —
Arming of a Flotilla at Cherson — Defeat of the Turkish Fleet, June, 1788
— Bentham receives the Military Order of St. George, with the Rank of
full Colonel, and other Rewards — Privateering — Appointed to a Cavalry
Regiment in Siberia — Excursion in the Country of the Kirgees, 1789 —
Expedition to the Mouth of the River Ob — Kirgee Ignorance of Fire —
Ship-building at Kamschatka for the American Fur Trade — Visits Paris
on his Way to England 74

CHAPTER VI.

Journey through the Manufacturing Districts of England, 1791 — Classifi-
cation of Mechanical Works — Death of his Father — Prison Archi-
tecture — Mechanical Inventions and Improvements — He is commissioned
by the Admiralty to visit the Naval Dockyards — Resigns the Russian
Service — Report on Portsmouth Dockyard, 1795 — Improvements and
Alterations in the Dockyard — He is ordered to build seven Vessels on
his own Plans — Changes introduced in their Construction — Appointed
Inspector-General of Naval Works — The Appointment sanctioned by
the King in Council, March, 1796 — Increased Calibre of Guns on
Shipboard 97

CHAPTER VII.

Marriage — Prison Architecture — Invention of a Mortar Mill for grinding
Cement — Chemical Tests and Experiments on Ship Timber —Means for
guarding Dockyards — Dock Buildings and Fittings — Choice of Materials
— Supply of Water — Precautions against Fire — Introduction of Steam

CONTEXTS. Xlll

Engines — Copper Sheathing — Coast Defences — Eeport on the Office
of Inspector- General ordered by the Select Committee of the House of
Commons — Interconvertibility of Ship Stores — Cost of Mast Ponds —
Effect of the Report to the Select Committee — Alterations and Improve-
ments in Plymouth Dockyard — Abuse of Chips — Bad Conversion of
Timber — Illness — Smuggling Vessels at Hastings . . Page 121

CHAPTER VIII.

Dock Entrances at Portsmouth — New South Dock for Ships of the Line —
Choice of Stone in building — Mast Ponds — Reservoirs for Clearing
Docks — Treatment of his Experimental Vessels — Floating Dam —
Steam Engine and Pumps — A Russian Fleet at Spithead — Interviews
with the Officers — Daily Occupations — Character of Dockyard Work-
men — Steam Dredging Machine — Enlargement of Marine Barracks at
Chatham — Artesian Well — Deptford Dockyard — Sheerness— Proposals
for a Dockyard at the Isle of Grain — Improved Copper Sheathing —
Success of the Experimental Vessels — Principle of Non-recoil in mount-
ing Guns — Engagement between the Millbrook and the French Frigate
Bellone, and between the Dart and the Desiree .... 146

CHAPTER IX.

Correspondence with Lady Spencer on Reforms in the Civil Management of
the Navy — Payment of Dockyard Workmen — Principles of his new
System of Management — Report to the King in Council — Objections
urged against a Reform — Office of Master- Attendant — Principle of Dock-
yard Appointments — Wages and Employment of Workmen — Navy Pay
Books — Education for the Civil Department of the Navy — Naval
Seminaries — Changes in the Accountant's Office — Interest of Money
sunk in Public Works — Dockyard Working Regulations — Opposition of
the Comptroller of the Navy — Official Tour to Portsmouth, Torbay, and
Plymouth — Renewed Acquaintance with the Earl of St. Vincent — Dock-
yard Abuses at Plymouth — Designs for a Breakwater — Return to
London — Opposition to the Report — The Earl of St. Vincent succeeds
Lord Spencer as First Lord of the Admiralty — The Report sanctioned in
Council, May, 1801 — Suggestions for arming Vessels of War — Green-
wich Hospital — Office of Timber-Master in the Royal Dockyard —
Efforts on behalf of Convicts — Management of Timber Stores — Report
to Lord St. Vincent, February, 1802 — Opposition — Commission of Naval
Inquiry — Provisional Plan for the Education of Dockyard Appren-
tices 170

CHAPTER X.

Tour to visit Cordage Manufactories, January 1803 — Report, and Adop-
tion of his Proposals — Treatment of Workpeople in Factories — Services
of Mr. Brunei in the Introduction of Block Machinery — Method of

XIV CONTENTS.

rewarding Inventors — Advantages of Non-recoil Guns — Abuses in
Job Payments — Proposals for a Government Ropery, 1804 — Contracts
for Timber — Opposition of the Navy Board — Arming of the Mercantile
Marine — Timber Coynes — Dockyard Machinery at Portsmouth —
Mission to build Ships in Russia, 1805 — Arrival at Cronstadt — Diffi-
culties of his Task — Opposition of the Emperor — Illness — His Pro-
posals rejected by the Emperor — Importation of Copper for Sheathing
— Detention at St. Petersburg during the Winter — Panopticon of
Ochta — Departure from St. Petersburg — Revel — Carlscrona — Return
to England — The Office of Inspector- General of Naval Works merged
in the Navy Board Page 220

CHAPTER XL

Changes of Administration at the Admiralty — Influences at work during
his Absence in Russia — Acceptance of Office in the Navy Board' —
Letter from General Fanshawe — Compensation to Mr. Brunei for
Savings on Blocks — Proposal for a Canal from Portsmouth Harbour to
Stokes Bay — Mixture of Copper and Tin — Faulty Method of Ship-
building — Covered Docks — Modes of Seasoning Timber — Seasoning
Houses — Sheerness Dockyard — Northfleet and the Isle of Grain —
Breakwater at Plymouth 250

CHAPTER XII.

Designs for Chatham — Improvements in Dredging Machines — Inadequate
Assistance in carrying out his Designs — Works at Portsmouth — Ply-
mouth Breakwater — His Office abolished — Remuneration and Com-
pensation — Count er-Claims of the Navy Board — Continued Designs —
Sheerness — Employment of Women — Anonymous Charges — Departure
for France, 1814 — Return of Napoleon from Elba — Removal to Tours
and Paris — Death of his Eldest Son, 1816 — Journey to Angouleme —
Return to England, 1827 — Fate of the Experimental Vessels, Arrow,
Netley, Eling, &c. — Transport Service — Interest of Money sunk in
Public Works — Form of Vessels — Payment of the Navy — Illness and
Death . 291

ERRATA.

Page 31, line 1 (and elsewhere), for " Prata-Pope" read " Proto-Pope."
„ 41, „ 29, for " Listvenishna" read " Ustvenishna."
„ 53, „ 17 (and elsewhere), for " Naimatchin" read " Maimatchin."

LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

CHAPTEE I.

Birth and Parentage of Samuel Bentham — Education at Westminster
School — Apprenticeship under the Master-Shipwright of Woolwich
Dockyard — He is removed to Chatham Yard — Proposal to the Navy
Board for an improved Chain Pump — Eesidence at Caen — Return to
London — Introduction to Sir Hugh Palliser, and Captain Jarvis, after-
wards Lord St. Vincent — Offer from Captain Bazely of H3I.S. Nymph
declined — Leaves England, August, 1779; visits Rotterdam and the
Hague, Amsterdam, Mittau, &c.

Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Bentham, K.S.Gk, was
the youngest son of Jeremiah Bentham, Esq., of Queen
Square Place, Westminster. His only surviving brother
(his senior by ten years) was the celebrated Jeremy
Bentham, well known by his works on jurisprudence.
Their father and grandfather were both lawyers. One of
their ancestors was Thomas Bentham, Bishop of Litchfield
and Coventry, who died in 1578.

Samuel was born on the 11th of January, 1757. He
was first placed at Mr. Willis's private boarding school,
then at Westminster School at the age of six. Their
mother having died soon after his birth, their father mar-
ried again, in October, 1766, the widow of John Abbot,
and the mother of two sons, Farr and Charles, the latter
so distinguished in after life as Speaker of the House of
Commons, and subsequently raised to the peerage by the
title of Baron Colchester. From the time of Mr. Bentham's
second marriage Charles and Samuel became in affection

B

£ • LIFE OF £IR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

to each other as real brothers : their treatment in the pa-
rental home was the same, their education similar, their
recreations alike. Jeremy Bentham, in a letter to his
cousin Mulford, said, " It is with pleasure that I can
confirm the favourable account you are pleased to say you
have heard of my father's choice, and from the best autho-
rity, for such in that case is that of a stepson, who is

but too often the last person to do it justice. I became
acquainted with her soon after my own mother's death, as
soon, or I believe a little sooner, than my father. For
some years there has been the strictest intimacy between
the two families ; she always had my esteem in the highest
degree, and it cost me but little to improve it. Since
their marriage, she has ever behaved to me and my bro-
ther in the same manner (making an allowance for the
difference of ages) as to her own children, whom she ten-
derly loves : they form a little triumvirate, in which, very
differently from the great cabals distinguished by that
name, there reigns the most perfect harmony." This is
but a tribute justly due to a lady who has been mentioned
in print in less flattering terms, and is moreover a proof
that the bias of Samuel, which led him early away from
home, did not originate in any discomfort experienced
under the parental roof.

The first circumstances which may have led eminent
men, to the choice of some particular career, cannot be
devoid of interest ; but Samuel never indicated what was
the origin of his predilection for naval concerns. Possibly
it might have been stimulated, by the circumstance of
a building in his father's coachyard, being occupied by a
carpenter as his workshop : for there he worked in all
his spare moments as a carpenter. Doubtless he must
have acquired some dexterity ; for, in after life, he often
spoke with delight of his having witli his own hands
manufactured a carriage for his playfellow, the afterwards
celebrated Cornelia Knight, whose father, Admiral Knight,

APPRENTICESHIP IN WOOLAYICH DOCKYARD. 3

was an intimate friend at Queen Square Place. Samuel's
progress at Westminster school distinguished him from the
generality of boys, so that he was destined for a liberal
profession, and was preparing for the University, when an
uncontrollable desire to become a naval constructor, in-
duced his father to gratify the inclination, and to procure
for him the best education, which the country at that time
afforded in the art of ship-building. This was secured by
placing him as an apprentice to the master-shipwright of a
royal dockyard, and Mr. Gray of Woolwich was selected as
the master. Some months before Samuel attained the legal
age of fourteen, he was bound apprentice to that gentle-
man, and regularly entered His Majesty's service as soon
as he had attained his fourteenth year.

At that now distant period, it was conceived that the
apprentices to such an officer, being usually of a superior
class and education to those of the common shipwright,
were training for future officers. The occasional absence,
therefore, from the dockside, of lads so circumstanced, was
winked at, though the master received from Government
the full wao-es for them, as if their work had been unre-
mitted. Much abuse arose therefrom, but the practice
still continued, till Samuel himself at a future time was
the means of its abolition. In his own case, however, it
was fully understood that he should be allowed ample
time for the acquirement of such knowledge, as might
tend to the advancement of naval construction and equip-
ment. He was boarded in the house of Mr. Gray, to
whom was paid the then very ample sum of £50 a-year,
besides a considerable apprentice fee. A distinguished
master of mathematics, Cowley, of Woolwich Warren, was
engaged to give Samuel lessons in that science, in which
he made such progress as to write during his apprentice-
ship a treatise, which had the reputation of having ex-
hibited unusual ability. He was removed with Mr.
Gray to Chatham Yard, where his ardent thirst for know-

B 2

4 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

ledge was gratified by intercourse with men distinguished
in various branches of science ; but at the same time
he did not neglect the handicraft branch of his profes-
sion. In a note-book, which still exists, is set down the
manner in which he allotted different parts of the day
to his several occupations : " Geometry before breakfast ;
working ship-building between breakfast and dinner ; Mr.
Davis (his tutor) with me at my cabin from dinner till
six o'clock, while I am drawing. Music just before dinner,
some light reading immediately after." These note-books
exhibit the great variety of subjects in which he was
acquiring knowledge, — chemistry, electricity, painting,
grammar, especially of the French language, and many
other subjects, besides those more immediately connected
with naval architecture, such as mechanics and ship-
building, the defects of which, as then practised, he already
perceived. He was also alive to the many abuses that
existed in the Eoyal Dockyards, and from his unpretending-
station as apprentice was allowed an insight into many
abuses, which otherwise he might never have been able to
ascertain. His residence at Chatham also afforded fre-
quent opportunities of gaining experience in sailing boats
and small craft, and he often went out to sea from the
Medway, cruising sometimes as far as Portsmouth and
round the Isle of Wight.

At the early age of fifteen, by Mr. Gray's advice, he
made his first official proposal to the Navy Board of an
improved chain pump, and the Navy Board in reply, to
use their words, " admit the improvement and commend
his ingenuity," but decline it as they had already a con-
tract for pumps. He afterwards learnt that the Board
really was convinced of the superiority of his pump, but
they had a contractor whom "they did not like to turn off."

In the year 1775, Mr. and Mrs. Bentham took their
three sons Farr and Charles Abbot and Samuel Bentham,
by permission of the Navy Board, to Caen, for the jmrpose

VIEWS OX EXPIRATION OP APPRENTICESHIP. 5

of giving them fluency in the French language, and for
effecting this they had previously provided for the recep-
tion of the lads in three different French families. The
parents left the lads, that nothing might impede their
speedy acquirement of the language ; and this judicious
arrangement was rewarded by success. Samuel particu-
larly spoke and wrote French with purity and taste.

During his apprenticeship, he was the contriver of several
improvements relative to naval matters, such as a Cur-
vator for measuring crooked timbers, together with seve-
ral small alterations in the form or equipment of sailing
and rowing boats. The views which he had for his future
employment when that apprenticeship should expire, will
best be described by quotations from a letter of his,
which commences thus : — " On the 2nd of August next
I shall have served out my seven years : at the expiration
of that time some alteration must take place, I have not
as yet determined what. I should not wish to be there
(in the yard), if I were not to continue to be as much
my own master as I am at present, and this would be
almost impossible. I should like much to superintend
the building of some one ship under the foreman of the
new works, but as this is not practicable, at the expira-
tion of my time I shall apply myself closely to geometry,
and finish the fifth book for publication : you know I
have some reason to believe that by this means I might
acquire interest enough to get master boat-builder. In
such an office, I should have very advantageous oppor-
tunities of perfecting myself in the knowledge of the busi-
ness as it is, and should have sufficient leisure to make
some experiments, and apply myse]f to gain that know-
ledge of it which would enable me to investigate what it
might be. Practice alone may show how work has been
done, but practice is insufficient to teach how it ought to
be done. To confess to you the truth, had I not thoughts
of the possibility of being at the head of my profession, I

B 3

6 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTIIAM.

never would have engaged in it. It is a profession I am
exceedingly fond of : I prefer it to any : it is one that
affords the largest field for the exercise of that kind of
knowledge, which I seem to have gotten the clue to.
Money, you know, I consider in no other light but as
affording the means of satisfying my darling passion. In
the King's service, although the profits are not large, yet
could I have confidence put in me, could I but have the
favour of those in power, although I should not have money,
yet I should have that for which alone I should want it —
I might have assistance in trying my experiments, in pur-
suing my researches : what I should have of my own, with
the addition of the little I should have as salary, would
satisfy me in such circumstances.

" Very little encouragement now would set me alive. I
am acting against the advice of all my friends ; they want
me to engage in a private yard ; to spend my whole life,
or at least the younger part of it, in the drudgery of buy-
ing timber and patching together ships, for which I must
court all such folks as masters of colliers, &c. Supposing
in that time I may amass 20,000/., when those faculties
are weakened by which alone I could enjoy the spending
it : I should then be living for the sake of living after-
wards, and should be doing all the while the contrary of
what it would be my greatest ambition to do."

There were, however, no means of enabling him to re-
main in the King's service, excepting in a very inferior
office. His determination therefore was to employ some
time in acquiring further knowledge, previously to deciding
on what should be his future career. He attended chemi-
cal lectures in London, acquired the German language,
became a pupil at the Naval Academy at Portsmouth, and
spent two more years in improving himself in the practices
of the several different Eoyal Dockyards, as also a part of
that time on shipboard, as a volunteer in Lord Keppel's
fleet. In a letter to his brother, 5th July, 1778, he says,

VISITS TO THE ROYAL DOCKYARDS. 7

<f On Monday last I breakfasted and dined on board the
Formidable, with her captain, Barclay, where, on being
introduced to Sir Hugh Palliser, that gentleman recollected
me. During my stay on board, I projected an alteration
in the apparatus for steering, the purpose for which was
to make it easier, by only altering the direction of an eye-
bolt ; when I mentioned this, the master and carpenters
began swearing at themselves for not having thought of
the same thing." The part was taken to the dockyard to
be altered ; but instead of this a new one was made under
Samuel's direction.

In a subsequent part of the same letter he says, " I went
also on board the Foudroyant with a lieutenant of the
Formidable, who was desired to introduce me to Captain
Jar vis, as a particular friend of Captain Barclay's. Cap-
tain Jarvis, you must know, is one of the highest-rate
captains. He went all over the ship with me, and we
became quite great friends. I mentioned my alteration in
the steering apparatus, and he seemed exceedingly pleased
with it, offering to have his altered according to the same
plan." Thus commenced his acquaintance with the Earl
of St. Vincent. It happened that after that year, they
never met again till 1800, during his Lordship's command
of the fleet then in Torbay, when their friendship was
renewed and manifested itself in the utmost cordiality,
and in the most flattering and convincing proofs of the
high estimation in which he held Bentham's views of im-
provements in naval concerns.

In the }^ear 1778, when at sea as a volunteer on board
the Bienfaisant, besides his attention to the nautical branch
of the profession and the behaviour of ships at sea, Captain
Macbride, whose table and cabin he shared, afforded him
many particulars of information relative to general ma-
nagement, all of which data were treasured up, and made
use of afterwards under the administrations of Lords
Spencer and St. Vincent.

B 4

8 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

He had already felt the deficiency in point of appro-
priate education in civil naval service which could be
obtained in either public or private establishments, when,
happening to meet with Sir William Petty's plan of a
system of instruction relative to the marine department,
he perceived the many advantages that such a plan would
afford in the training of men for the civil naval service ;
but as Sir William's was little more than a skeleton,
Bentham rilled it up with the many branches of knowledge
which in his view seemed desirable. In Sir William's
plan several essential items were not noticed, for example,
mixed mathematics, particularly mechanics, hydrostatics,
hydraulics and pneumatics, naval chemistry, naval eco-
nomy. These and many other additions to Sir William's
plan appear in Bentham's, which, though completed in
1779, was only published in his Naval Papers, No. 1. It
had, however, been presented to the Lords of the Admi-
ralty in 1795, and formed the groundwork of the plan for
naval seminaries intended to be introduced by both Lords
Spencer and St. Vincent.

Amongst many offers of employment was one from
Captain Bazely, of the Nymph, who was desirous that
Bentham should accompany him to the East Indies,
"partly to extend his observations, partly from a view
(to use Captain Bazely's words) of the benefit the naval
service in those parts might upon any emergency receive
from his suggestions. The Captain was with me about it,"
(wrote his brother Jeremy to Mr. Fitzherbert,) " but my
father could not be persuaded to consent."

In the summer of that year, Lord Howe, then First
Lord of the Admiralty, suggested that, instead of accepting
any immediate employment at home, Samuel should spend
some time in visiting maritime countries abroad, to study
the ship-building and naval economy of foreign powers.
His father was at first averse to this also, but soon perceived
the advantages which such extensive means of information

LETTERS OF INTRODUCTION TO ST. PETERSBURG. 9

would afford to his son, and gave his full consent to and
approbation of the journey. Friends were then applied to
for letters of introduction, two of which, to Sir James
Harris (first Lord Malmesbury), our ambassador at St.
Petersburg, afford examples of the general style of the
seventy which he obtained. Besides these, Bentham was
furnished with others, that were officially addressed, to
various ministers and consuls at foreign courts and mari-
time establishments.

Letter from Sir Gilbert Elliot to Sir James Harris, Am-
bassador of His B. M. at St. Petersburg, in behalf of Mr.
Bentham : —

"London, Uth July, 1779.

" My dear Harris, — I beg leave to introduce to you Mr.
Bentham, with whom Mr. Douglas has lately made me acquainted.
The profession which he has chosen is that of ship-building, but
he proposes to study it in a much more liberal manner than is
generally done, and is prepared for it by school education and an
attention to science not to be met with, I believe, in any other of
his profession, at least of this country. Part of his plan is to see
all that is curious in that art abroad, and his visit to Petersburg
is in the same view. It is a great triumph for the memory of
Peter the Great that an Englishman shoidd go to learn ship-
building in Russia. This consideration will, I daresay, procure
Mr. Bentham the attention of the country he is going to, and his
agreeable manners and accomplishments will ensure to him your
good offices and friendship.

" Believe me, my dear Harris, your affectionate

".Gilbert Elliot."

From Ed. Poore, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, to Sir James
Harris : —

, " Salisbury, 14:th July, 1779.
" I have taken the liberty to commend to your notice the bearer,
Mr. Samuel Bentham, who is travelling for his improvement in
the theory of ship-building, which he is very likely to advance

10 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

in, as he is very ingenious and assiduous in the studies connected
with his occupation. As his object in visiting other countries is
merely information, and not any personal emolument, and he has
been very much countenanced and recommended by some of our
first people here in that light, I have presumed to add my know-
ledge of him to what other introductions he may have, and am
persuaded he will not fall short of any recommendations you may
think proper to give him to any of the naval department at St.
Petersburgh, to the principal of whom, indeed, he has letters
from Lord Shelburne and others, but would be, perhaps, more
properly and more forcibly recommended by your patronage of
him.

" I take this opportunity of making you my gratulations on the
late accession of honours that has happened to you, which I
should have done before but that I would not take up your time
with mere compliments. My best respects attend Lady Harris
and your sister.

" I am, &c. your faithful friend,

"Ed. Poore."

As Mr. Bentham's agreeable manners and accomplish-
ments have been spoken of, it may be added that his
intellectual countenance was engaging from the sincerity
of the expression, his tall figure graceful, and the hands
that at times worked at the dock-side still retained their
delicacy. He could bear his part with elegance in the
amusements of the first society, and he could hew a piece
of timber with correctness. On the Continent he was dis-
tinguished in society as " le bel Anglais."

He embarked on the 24th of August, 1779, on board a
Dutch eel boat for Helvoetsluys, such a vessel being safer
than the packet during that time of war. His accom-
modations on board were all of them as luxurious as his
bed, which was merely a bag of Scotch barley. His
voyage was tedious, and it was not till the 31st that he
landed at Helvoetsluys ; but he thought it an advantage to
have had this early proof of his ability to rough it. He

STAY AT AMSTEEDAM. 11

visited Rotterdam and the Hague, having letters to our
ambassador there, Sir Joseph Yorke. On mentioning
his first visit to Sir Joseph, he said : " Never was I so
much pleased with the conversation of any man. He
gave me the character of the several people I am
recommended to at Amsterdam." On dining with the am-
bassador next day, Bentham received from him two poli-
tical pamphlets, one of them by Sir James Marriott. " The
other Sir Joseph calls a libel, but says at the same time
that it is every word of it true. He insists much on the
use and almost absolute necessity of libels against libels,
professes himself to have been the cause of a yard-full ot
them being written, and says, after the King of Prussia,
that it is as necessary to write against an enemy as to
fight him out."

At Amsterdam he obtained an insight into the details of
ship-building in Holland, and of all the business connected
with it. The three brothers May especially were most
obliging in their confidential communications, and afforded
him valuable information as to the means employed for
the preservation of timber, a subject which he held to be
of vital importance in ship-building, and which he made
everywhere a particular subject of inquiry.

His letters to his father and brother describe the country
through which he passed, and the habits and manners of
the people when differing from those of England. Such
particulars, as being either already known or obsolete, may
be generally passed over; still it may be worth noting that
at Leyden the plants in the botanical garden are shown
" by as pretty a Dutch girl as you will see in a hundred,"
and, " when we came to the natural history another still
prettier girl made her appearance, and ran over a score or
two of names in her department ; I was astonished to see
females so well informed in such matters."

During his stay at Amsterdam, he particularly noted
the difference of expense at which naval business is car-

12 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

ried on in England. In that city there was a Board of
Admiralty, consisting of seven members. " They do the
business of the Lords of the Admiralty, of the Com-
missioners of the Customs, Commissioners of the Navy
and Victualling Boards in England ; their salary is £300
a-year, and about £50 perquisites, besides a house, firing,
and, I believe, candles. Yet they are rich, not from
their places, for they consider them as posts of honour
only. The Burgomaster of Amsterdam clears about £60
a-year by his place, but at the same time he has the dis-
posal of all places in the city, one or two of them with
perhaps £2000 per annum. They have never been known
on account of this power to go snacks with the nominee."
So in regard to France ; from information to be depended
on, he learnt that " there is about as much work done
in the dockyard at Toulon as in that of Amsterdam,
an equal number of ships built and fitted in a given
time. There are employed at Toulon about 4,000 who
work with their tools, and upwards of 200 men who keep
accounts and direct the works. Here there are about
12,000 men who work with tools, and about twenty who
keep accounts and direct the works. A Dutch workman
is very slow in his movements, but he never stops ; he
drinks only the small beer allowed him, of which he may
drink as much as he pleases."

Notes of this kind indicate that Bentham's investigations
extended to the management under which the business of
a naval arsenal is carried on, and the degree of economy
with which works in them were executed — a subject in
which, as will subsequently appear, he was afterwards
much occupied in England, with a view to reforms in the
management of the civil branch of the naval department.

One of the above-mentioned brothers May habitually
spent the winter in England, and had large dealings with
the Navy Board in furnishing ships for the transport ser-
vice. Some information which Bentham obtaine from

METHODS OF PKEPAEIXG SHIP-TIMBER. I

s->

these gentlemen, affords an example of the difficulty with
which improvements then, as up to the present time, are
introduced in the English naval department. In a letter of
September 10th, 1779, he writes: " It is now upwards of
twenty years that they (the Mays) have experienced the
efficacy of a method they have discovered of preparing the
timber at the expense of a very few pounds. Their father,
being master-builder of the public yard here, applied his
method to several ships of war he built about this time.
These ships have since had but the most trifling repairs
imaginable, and the timbers remain now as sound as at
first ; whereas before that time a ship had often been so
much decayed in the space of five years as to be broken up
as unfit for service. These ships of May's have already
outlasted seven such ships. The Dutch wished to keep
this secret to themselves, but as nothing can escape the
notice of Sir Joseph Yorke, our Admiralty were informed
of it, at least in part, and it was ordered to be put in
practice ; however, it shared the fate of all other proposals.
It was at first badly conducted, and by a change in the
Admiralty entirely neglected. Our ships were left to rot
ad libitum, and the Dutch hug themselves and laugh at
us. I know a good deal of the manner in which this was
communicated, and of the reception it met with ; but what
is much more to the purpose, I know, pretty nearly at
least, the whole of the method itself."

Bentham remained successively at various ports in the
Baltic, long enough to obtain such information as could be
acquired at them. At Mittau the Grand. Duke of Cour-
land honoured him with much distinction, and here it was
that his evident stock of information and judgment ob-
tained for him the first offer of place and pecuniary emolu-
ment. The Duke offered him very advantageous terms if
he could be induced to take a part in the management and
disposal of the timber of the country. Many letters and
facts indicated that he was already distinguished by the

14 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

epithet " le savant voyagewr? and that a all who knew
him were astonished at the great modesty they discovered
in him." It is not surprising therefore that in addition to
the valuable letters of introduction which he took from
England, many others not less flattering were given to
him from the friends which he made wherever he spent
some time.

15

CHAP. II.

*

Arrival at St. Petersburg — Reception by Sir James Harris, the English
Ambassador — He declines the Offer of the Direct or- Generalship of Marine
Works — Visit to Cronstadt, Moscow, and Cherson — Return to St.
Petersburg — Sets out to visit the great Factories and Mines of Russia,
Peb. 1781 — Ship-building at Archangel — Catherinaburg — Crosses the
Ural Mountains into Siberia — Mines at Verskatouria — Sect of the
Raskolniks — Visit to Nishnai Taghil — He constructs a Vehicle to serve
both as Boat and Carriage — Invents a Machine for Planing Wood —
Raskolnik Marriage Rites — Raskolnik Resistance to Persecution — Gene-
ral Aspect of the Country.

Mr. Bentham arrived at St. Petersburg in March, 1780,
when he was for some time confined to the house in con-
sequence of illness brought on by the overturning of the
carriage in which he travelled. In a letter written whilst
still laid up he says : " Count Tchernicheff has heard of
me, and knows a great deal about me, and expresses a wish
to see me every day. He makes me offers before he has
spoken to me or seen me.'' Mr. Samborski, the Eussian
chaplain attached to the Embassy in London, had before
this expressed a strong desire to engage Mr. Bentham in
the Eussian service.

Bentham's first visit on his recovery was, of course, to
the ambassador. His reception was most flattering. He
said himself : " Although I expected, from his character and
from the letters I carried with me, to be received with a
great deal of politeness, yet the reception I met with ex-
ceeded my expectations." Indeed, far from confining his
civilities to a first visit, or to such as are usually bestowed
on persons recommended, Sir James Harris bestowed on

16 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

Mr. Bentham many proofs of friendship. The young man
was permitted to consult him on all occasions, and thence-
forward took no step without Sir James's advice and con-
currence. The ambassador also introduced him to the
first society in St. Petersburg, and Mr. Bentham had
reason to say that, " it was not by invitations to dinner
that I measure his friendship ; he gives me other proofs
of it."

Shortly afterwards Count Tchernicheff offered Mr.
Bentham the Director-Generalship of all the ship-building
and mechanical works relating to the Marine. This was
declined, as it would have fixed him in Eussia. His wdshes
always led him home again, though his acceptance of the
office would have enabled him to carry on experiments
with a view to improvements in his profession. It appears,
too, that he doubted his father's approval of such a step ;
but when he alleged this to Sir James as one reason for
his refusal, the reply was that, " no employ would be pro-
posed to him but under such advantages that even his
father could not but approve of it."

In May he visited Cronstadt, furnished with letters from
Sir James Harris and from Count Tchernicheff to the Com-
mander-in-chief of that port and arsenal, Admiral Greig.
From this double recommendation, Mr. Bentham said, " I
got the confidence as well as the civilities of the Admiral."
So that he had full opportunity of acquainting himself
with all the various naval arrangements of that port, and
of all the accommodations in the arsenal there provided
for the construction, equipment, and management of every-
thing connected with the outfit of a fleet.

Mr. Bentham then set out on a journey through the
interior of Russia, to visit the seaports on the south,
making some little stay at places of interest on his way.
On his arrival at Moscow the Governor honoured him with
an invitation to his table. A young Russian with whom
he had already formed a friendship (Serge Plescheff), being

SECT OF THE KASKOLXIKS. 17

also at Moscow, engaged to convey Bentham to the Gover-
nor's, and promised to bring him home. After dinner the
party adjourned to the theatre. During the performance
the house took fire, and the greatest consternation of course
arose. PleschefT hurried out his sister ; Bentham assisted
other ladies, and escorted them safely to their carriages,
when they drove off and in the confusion left him alone
and helpless in the road. He was in the full dress of the
time, with glittering shoe and knee buckles and the cha-
peau de bras. The police accosted him. He had not yet
learnt Euss, yet he contrived to understand that they asked
his place " of residence.!' He could not say that PleschefT
had engaged it for him, nor could he name the house of his
friend. The good-natured police endeavoured in vain to
understand his signs, till at length he managed to make
them comprehend his wish to be taken to the Governor.
The request seemed extraordinar} 7 . They hesitated, and
were taking him to prison, after much dumb-show parley,
when PleschefT appeared, who, having seen his sister safely
lodged at home, bethought himself of Bentham and re-
turned just in time to explain matters, and to save him
from being placed in durance for having presumed to ask
for an escort to the Governor.

Further south, in passing through a village of Easkol-
niks, he asked for food and a draught of water. Both
were cheerfully and abundantly supplied, but payment was
positively refused. When the repast was over, he saw every
vessel which he had used dashed to pieces on the ground.
The Raskolniks are schismatics from the Eussian Church,
with which in certain respects they will have no inter-
course ; and one of the peculiarities of the sect is that
they never eat or drink from any vessel that has been used
by a person of the orthodox Church.

He visited Cherson, little dreaming of his future occu-
pation there. The town then consisted of no more than 180
houses. In a letter of August 10th, 1780, he says : "The}-

C

18 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

are establishing, or attempting to establish, a marine in
the Black Sea. This is at present the favourite object of
the Court. General Hannibal, of black parents, though
born in Kussia, has the entire management of it under
Prince Potemkin. He (Hannibal) has the command of
building, fortifying, and settling the new town of Cherson,
as well as the first command of all the naval department
there. He chose the spot not above two or three years ago,
when there was not even a hut there. In a few years he
expects to see in it a fleet of thirty-two ships. Sheds to
cover them are also to grow up with them. He has the
favour of the Empress and her ministers, and snaps his
fingers at the Admiralty. He gave me a general descrip-
tion of his plan. Timber they get chiefly from Chernobyl
in Poland, for there is scarcely a single tree within 200
miles of Cherson."

Bentham returned to Moscow by Chernobyl and Mittau.
Many incidents during this tour show the estimation in
which he was held ; to notice one of them, after staying
some days with Count Chadkiovitz he was not allowed to
proceed to Mittau, otherwise than in the count's carriage.
" In this manner was I brought all through Poland, and
not permitted to be at a farthing's expense."

At St. Petersburg, to use his own words, "in a little time
I returned to my old hankering," and in October " con-
trived a new mode of composing masts," perhaps the same
that he afterwards introduced in England with complete
success. " I hope I shall be able to show," he says, " by
the principles of mechanics, the advantage in point of
strength, as well as of economy, of this mode over the pre-
sent practice." The saving which he afterwards effected
in England was twenty-five per cent, in workmanship, be-
sides a considerable sum in timber.

In a letter to his father at this time he laments the
expenses which he had unavoidably incurred : " A carriage,"
he said, (( was as necessary as a pair of gloves, more so than

ARRIVAL AT ARCHAXGEL. 19

a shirt;" — he then related the economical arrangement
which he had now made to diminish his expenditure, and
avoid altogether much of the cost of a vehicle. " To Sir
James Harris's, unless when there is much company in had
weather, I walk, yet contrive to save my reputation, not-
withstanding the great aversion every class of people here
has to the idea of walking. You tell me, Sir, that I used
to make more shifts and undergo more hardships from
economy : believe me, never so much then as now, though
perhaps never with so good a will and so great a necessity.
Coarse bread, black and sour, with sometimes milk, some-
times water, was my food the greatest part of my journey;
not because I could not get other, but really because I
would not be at the expense of it. In a bed I did not
sleep during my journey, except while I was at my friend
Count Chadkiovitz's, neither have I since my return. A
sofa on which I sit with a great table before me by day,
serves me as a bed at night. The same cloak, which served
me so well on my journey, serves me now as sheets and
blankets. Apples arid bread are my food when I stay at
home ; indeed I might have princely fare if I would bestow
time and trouble to go out for it."

But Bentham was not yet satisfied with the amount
already received of what he considered his education. He
wished to improve himself still further by witnessing actual
practice in mechanical operations as it existed in foreign
manufactories, to investigate the art of management where
there were great assemblages of working men, and to im-
prove himself in the knowledge of metallurgy. Accordingly,
in February 1781, he set out to visit the great factories
in the Eussian dominions, and the most important of the
mines, those especially in the Ural Mountains, and to the
eastward of them. He arrived at Archangel in March.
The greater part of the vast extent of country through
which he passed is still but little known, and its inhabi-
tants were then, as even now, considered coarse and brutal

C 2

20 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

in manners as in mind: he, on the contrary, found the
higher classes possessed of much information and polished
manners, and all orders he found good-natured and good-
humoured, with a sincere desire to assist and to oblige.
The greater part of the journal kept at this time has
unfortunately been lost, but letters to his brother and
other friends afford much curious and valuable informa-
tion.

A heavy fall of snow occasioned the driver of his carriage
to lose his way at a distance of eight versts from Archangel.
He walked into the town, lodged with General W^exel,
and was everywhere received most flatteringly. He after-
wards was received in the house of M. Sereptzova, the
judge appointed by Government, from whom he received
much information relative to judicial matters.

He learnt that it was a common practice at Archangel to
build ships with the money, and on account of English
merchants. The vessels were sent to England loaded with
Eussian produce, and then were permitted to sail as mer-
chantmen, the greater part of the profit being secured to
the English. A vessel built at Archangel cost 10,000
roubles (the rouble about 3s.), made four voyages in two
succeeding years, and was then sold to the British Govern-
ment for 5000?.

Among the few of his notes that remain, he says, " I
have used my utmost endeavours to inform myself whether
the peasants do not suffer oppression under the government
of officers whom it is so difficult for the wisest laws to
restrain, but hitherto I have not been able to discover
instances of exaction or injustice. Here and there I have
found some villages poorer than others, but according to
what I have learnt, poverty in those villages arose from
over-population, the surrounding land not being sufficient
in extent or fertility to furnish food in abundance."

At Archangel he engaged an Englishman to accompany
him as interpreter, and as a sort of companion ; for

RUSSIAN HOSPITALITY. 21

although he had already acquired some familiarity with
the Russian language, he did not consider himself suffi-
ciently master of it to understand the technical terms.

Pallas, with whom Bentham had made acquaintance in
the south, and with whom a strict friendship ever after
existed, furnished him with a note of places and mines par-
ticularly worthy of notice ; and in prosecution of this plan
so marked out, he left Archangel before the winter roads
had broken up. At one town at which he made a halt on
the 21st of March, a sort of contest sprung up between the
Commandant and a rich merchant, as to which of them
should have the privilege of entertaining him. He urged
to the merchant that the Commandant's hospitality had
been already accepted. The merchant hied him to the
Commandant, and obtained permission from him for the
transfer of the traveller to himself. They were splendidly
lodged and entertained — magnificent counterpanes on
their beds, silk dressing-gowns, two valets de chambre to
attend on each of them ; (l in short," says the interpreter,
" everything was noble " — but they lacked the China ware
thought indispensable in an English bed-room. At length
the valets contrived to pick up one wash-hand basin. This
must not be set down to want of cleanliness. In Kussia
the bath is the place for ablutions, and a heated one was
ready for the guests next morning. The difference from
our habits may appear strange ; but it must be remembered
that this reception took place nearly seventy years ago.
Since that time Russia has adopted much from countries
to the westward of her ; yet she still retains many usages
widely differing from ours. Indeed, persons of distinction
not many years since, travelling on the main road from the
Crimea to St. Petersburg, were attended by a cook carry-
ing his culinary apparatus in his kibitka.

In after life Bentham often related the straits to which
he had frequently been put in Russia and Siberia, by the
overwhelming quantities of provision with which he had

c 3

22 LIFE OP SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

been presented. An example of this embarrassment oc-
curred at Solikamisoi. The wife of the Commandant of
the place, on the morning of his departure, sent what she
thought necessary to allay hunger till Bentham and his
interpreter should reach their carriage station. The
luncheon for the two consisted of a pie composed of fowls
and eggs, a cooked ham, two roast geese, two ducks, be-
tween four and five pounds of fresh butter, with bread in
proportion to the other fare — all this to be stowed away in
a simple kibitka. In his notes he says, " It is a custom, I
am told, amongstthese hospitable people, the first time aper-
son comes to take up his quarters at their house, to make him
some kind of present. I at least have found it so invariably.
The satisfaction they seem to feel in making their present in-
creases its value immeasurably. They have seemed to con-
sider a present as a kind of duty they owe me, and are only
anxious to find what would be most agreeable." Further on
he says : — " One cannot but be surprised that crimes of all
kinds are not more frequent in this country, where the parties
must go perhaps a thousand versts to bring an affair to trial.
At Cherkinska the peasant at whose house I slept, observing
that my servant was looking out of the window to watch
the kibitkas, told me there was no fear they would be dis-
turbed. At present, however, the Empress is giving an
entirely new face to her vast dominions ; different tri-
bunals are establishing in every town. All economy,
domestic and public, is, 'tis true, in a sad condition. The
passion for gaming may, in a great measure, be the
cause of the neglect of the former." An instance of the
mechanical ingenuity of some of the native Russians was
seen at Selsty, where a Euss shopkeeper, without educa-
tion or instruction, made clocks that chimed the hours and
quarters. But in Russia, as elsewhere, the aged adhere to
old customs. At a place thirty-four versts from Verska-
touria, the son of a peasant had cut a road through the woods
to that place which shortened the way considerably. The

VISITS OF CEREMONY. 23

old father never would use it, saying, that " the road which
God had made was the best."

26th March. — At Catherinaburg the General immedi-
ately ordered Mdme. Turchisen's house to be prepared for
his reception, and two gentlemen were deputed to conduct
Bentham to his lodgings — " a very palace ' (as noted by
his interpreter), " both in outward appearance and internal
arrangements." In less than half an hour the General
paid his visit of ceremony to congratulate Mr. Bentham on
his arrival. This formal affair accomplished, the General
proposed a walk together through the town. The opera-
tions at the Tanetskoi Don were particularly noticed, money
being there coined with extraordinary expedition. Each
piece passed through eleven hands ; yet coins to the amount
of 12,000 roubles were finished daily. After entertaining
him at dinner, the General accompanied the traveller
to pay visits of ceremony — in a coach of six, of course,
Another house of Turchisen's, at which he apparently
resided, was remarkable for its grandeur and for the very
fine hothouses in its gardens. Turchisen had a factory
where forty workmen were employed in manufacturing
beautiful articles of metal solely for his use.

Having crossed the Ural Mountains into Siberia, Bentham
arrived at Verskatouria on the 28th of March, and was
conducted to the principal proprietor in that neighbour-
hood, Gregory Pogodaskina. This young man, though
only sixteen years of age, had a month or two before been
left by his father sole and uncontrolled proprietor of all
his wealth, including mines, one of them amongst the
richest of the upper mines in Siberia. The youth, attended
by the chief persons of the place, came out upon the steps
of his house to receive his guests. After coffee, Pogodas-
kina accompanied them to the commander of the town.
Verskatouria is a place of some commerce in furs, such
as white bear skins, sables, and ermines. Two live
sables were given to Bentham, so tame that the}^ would

C 4

24 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

take raisins or sweetmeats out of a person's hand or
mouth.

Bentham then proceeded to the gold mines, fifteen versts
from the town ; they are three in number, and at a depth
of ten Kussian fathoms, seventy English feet. Specimens
of this mine he afterwards sent to England to Sir Joseph
Banks, together with a large collection of other of the
mineral productions of Siberia. What remained of his own
collection he received twenty years later in England, but
the valuable specimens of gold had disappeared.

The next morning he set out to visit Pogodaskina's iron
and copper works at a distance of 130 versts, where he
arrived about nine the following morning. Pogodaskina,
young as he was, was, it appears, chief manager of his
immense concerns, and having indispensable business to
transact at home, regretted that he could not accompany
the traveller himself, but deputed this duty to another in
his stead. At these works 114 poods, that is to say 4560
pounds of copper, are run from the furnace at one time.

"Near the factory of Kashan is the great iron mine of
Slagkodat ; a new road had been made over a steep hill,
from which there is a magnificent prospect. The inhabi-
tants of the village have taste enough in summer time to
repair to a summer-house built on the summit of the hill,
a distance of eighty versts.

A village, seven versts from Catherinaburg, inhabited
by Raskolniks, gave Bentham a favourable opportunity of
informing himself of their religious ceremonies. Under
the guidance of an officer sent by the Governor, he in-
quired of several persons, on entering the village, where
the chapel was situated ? and to this they replied that
they did not know. Recourse was then had to a merchant
of the place, an acquaintance of the officer's. This mer-
chant, whilst a messenger was sent to learn when the
chapel could be visited, showed his guest a small chapel
which he had built for the use of his family, and where

CUSTOMS OF THE RASKOLXIKS. 25

he himself daily said morning and evening prayers. On
entering the Raskolnik chapel, two flat pieces of iron were
seen suspended. They are struck with an iron hammer,
when the people are assembled ; and five large bells, one
of them weighing a pood, are then rung. They have no
altar, and their saints are without ornament, but are
merely painted resemblances. Except St. Nicholas, whom
they say they do not honour, they do not acknowledge
any of the saints reverenced in the Eussian Church. The
women assemble in a separate apartment, that they may
not be seen by the men. Each person is provided with
a square flat cushion to lay on the ground when he
lies down. On being asked whether they were persecuted
by the Russians they replied in the negative, but added
that they had formerly been so, and were afraid of it even
now, as they were determined to adhere to their own re-
ligion. Her Imperial Majesty has commanded head
money of thirty-five copecs to be paid by Raskolnik
women, which is never imposed upon those of the Russian
Church, and an addition of seventy-five copecs per man
above what a Russian pays — this tax, Bentham subse-
quently added, is now taken off. They are (in common
with Russians) obliged to supply their quota of recruits
for the army, but take care to send those that are
least attached to their religion. He learnt, on return-
ing to the Governor's, that, while the Raskolniks were
persecuted by the Government, they inflicted great cruelties
on themselves and on their families, rather than change
their religion. The Empress on hearing the tortures which
they imposed upon themselves, decreed that twenty years
should be allowed them for reflection, and in the mean-
time, that by means- of persuasion an endeavour should be
made to unite them with the Russian Church, but this
leniency did not appear to have any good effect.

9th April. — He set off for Nijni Taghil in the Go-
vernor's calesh with four post horses, a hussar behind the

25 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAtf.

carriage, and a soldier in advance to order change of
horses. Xij ni Taghil, an iron factory, the property of
Count DemidofT, is 140 versts northward of Catherinaburg.
The owner of the works had furnished him letters to the
intendant, containing orders to show him everything that
he wished to see, to afford him all the information he
might require, and moreover to do any works for him that
he might have occasion for, as carriages, &c. Bentham
had travelled thither in kibitkas on sledges with the
winter roads, and now needed a carriage on wheels for
summer travelling. The people proposed making him
one of the usual description, but considering the journey
which he had in view, he said that one of the ordinary
construction would not content him. He therefore con-
trived a vehicle that might suit his purpose as a wheel
carriage on land, a boat in water, and a sledge on ice.
This carriage was manufactured while the winter roads
were broken up, and the summer ones were not yet
passable. He had not only to mark out himself every
single piece of wood put into it, but was often obliged to
work as hard as any of the workmen in executing those
parts which could not be explained to them. In a letter to
his brother, dated April 25th, from Nijni Taghil, he says,
" The inhabitants, with regard to their manners, are very
falsely described," and afterwards in speaking of the
hospitable reception which travellers in general receive in
this country, he says that the proprietor, Mr. DemidofT, was
then at Moscow, but that " his house here, his servants,
table, equipage, &c, I am at present master of. If you
are not engaged some day next week, and will come and
take a dinner or supper with me, whichever is most con-
venient, I shall be very glad to see you. I mention it only
lest, hearing that nobody comes to the table here without
my express invitation, your bashfulness might deprive me
of the pleasure of your company. Besides soups, you
will find, every day beef, mutton, pork, dressed each in

RUSSIAN COOKERY.

27

several different ways, also geese, ducks, and fowls. You
need not, however, criticise the etiquette in serving up the
poultry, or find fault with the sauces. Don't make it a
tea-table talk at your return if you should see one dish
contain a goose and a fowl, another a duck and a fowl laid
head and tail on, one up on end against the other, all
shrunk by the heat of the oven to half their former size,
and the dry remains of the flesh ready to drop from the
bones at the first touch — dry, I mean only in the inside,
for the outside shines from the oily butter in which
they almost swim. You love pastry, you will find some of
different sorts, or rather in different shapes, and a great
abundance of each. AVith such fare, however, by the
assistance of champagne and other French wines and
English beer, you may be able to exist for a single day.
The wines are brought about 2000 versts overland. So
much as I have seen of this country of Siberia, I have
always found something more than the bare necessaries of
life. At Tolchamskaja, a town further to the north,
though without the boundaries of Siberia, I saw, besides
other hothouse plants, 500 as fine orange and lemon trees
as I ever saw an) r where. By-the-by what an infamous, ma-
licious, lying work that is of the Abbe Chapuis ; have you
read the antidote to it ? It is said to be written by the Prin-
cess Dashkoff; her criticisms are in general, as far as I
am able to inform myself, exceedingly just, but now and
then her partiality for her country carries her too for." In
reference to the growing practice in Russia of availing
themselves of aid from abroad, he says : " To pretend to
say that arts and manufactures are brought to the same
degree of perfection here as in other countries, would be to
condemn the practice of engaging foreigners ; " but turning
his thoughts to the unjust accounts that travellers had
given of Russia, particularly the eastern parts and Siberia,
he adds, " If I were disposed to criticise and condemn (yet
from what I have seen there is more done here for the

28 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

good of the country than there is done at home), I might
say that in some places there are too many people here
who have more interest in injuring than in benefiting
others ; but when I have made this remark, I have found
that the interest of the superior is rather to protect than
to injure those under him. When I have noticed anything
that seemed to the prejudice of Government or of those
who are disposed to favour it, I proposed questions to the
most intelligent people in the country. I propose them in
such a way as to get their opinion before I give my own,
and it frequently happens from the reasons which they give
me that I feel ashamed of having formed such an opinion.
I wish the Abbe could have done the like ; his book would
have been as opposite as possible to what it is."

April 12th. — The design for the amphibious carriage
being completed, the work was begun, and it afforded
occupation for Bentham a great part of every day, in
chalking out upon the floor the form and dimensions of
the boat and the disposition and scantlings of its parts.
When the carriage was built he described it to his brother
as nothing more than a vehicle hung as usual on springs,
and when intended for land service suspended on wheels,
but the body was of the novel shape of a boat. For water
service, easy means were provided for detaching the
carriage from the wheels, so that when taken to pieces
they might be stowed away in the bottom of the body,
serving then as ballast when the vehicle is used as a boat.
When it was completed, he set out in it for Perme, where
it afforded no small amusement to the inhabitants. Beins:
engaged to dine with the Governor, Bentham just before
the appointed hour sailed up the river in his amphibious
vehicle in full view of the well-filled windows of the
Government house; after dinner it presented itself in
another form upon wheels and drawn by three horses to
the door. It fully answered the purpose for which it was
contrived, — rapid .and certain means of conveyance in a

MACHINERY FOE WORKING- IN WOOD. 29

country intersected with rivers, but ill provided with
bridges.

During the construction of the carriage, Mr. Bentham's
observation of the slowness with which workers in wood
operated, and of the frequent inaccuracy of their work, led
him to think that machinery might be substituted with
great advantage for manual labour in the fashioning of that
material. In consequence of this opinion he considered
various means of realising his ideas ; and here it was that
the first foundation was laid of his subsequent inventions
of machinery. He first caused a working model to be
made of a machine which he devised for planing wood.
As this model was found to answer its intended purpose,
he forthwith had a planing machine made of full size for
large works, which did its duty equally well. He after-
wards consulted Sir James Harris as to the bringing his
invention forward, and whether there were any probability
of his deriving some such advantage from it in Eussia as
in England might be derived by patent. Sir James
counselled him to " look forward to old England for the
first recompense of his ingenuity." Eelating this to his
brother, Mr. Bentham observes, " this, however, does not
prevent my trying some experiments, although it sets me
wavering in regard to some of my inventions."

During a drive round Nijni Taghil on Sunday the
16th of April a number of fine houses were noticed, indi-
cating that the inhabitants were rich and at their ease, the
people about all of them lively, smartly dressed, and very
clean. In one street a number of girls assembled together
were dancing, singing, and running about, while the men
were standing round to look at them ; others were playing
cricket and other games. In this and other streets several
hundreds were so assembled and seemed to enjoy them-
selves greatly.

A great magazine of flour was kept up by Count Demi-
doff when flour was to be purchased at a low price, as

30 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

fourteen copecs a pood, he caused a large quantity to be
stored ; and when the price rose to twenty-two copecs, the
magazine was opened and the flour sold to the poor at its
cost price. Some days were spent in examining the man-
ner in which the iron is sent off in barks to St. Peters-
burg, and in a letter dated April 14th he says: "You may
know, perhaps, that there is no communication whatever
by water between the European and Asiatic parts of this
country. Mr. Demidoff 's fabrics being on the Asiatic side,
he has a wharf on the river Chasavry on the European
side. By transporting his iron in winter by sledge roads,
he can send it from thence entirely by water to St. Peters-
burg. I went to this place to see the loading and setting
off of his barges. He sent this year fifty-four of them,
each carrying about 7000 poods of iron, about 111 tons
English."

18th. — Bentham contrived a machine to be applied
to General Bashkin's carriage to show the number of
versts it travelled over. To-day he went to the painters.
In the same street lived several Baskolniks, who take all
their water for washing or drinking, not from rivers,
but from wells, of which they use several in the street.
Bentham, who in going along saw one of the poles for
drawing up buckets fixed at an unusually great height,
tried whether much force was required to immerse and
then raise the bucket filled with water. He found it was
easily effected, but as he looked to see whether the water
was clean, an old Baskolnik, imagining the heretic was
about to drink, called out to him to wait till he had
brought a glass. Bentham was preparing to throw the
water back into the well when the old man ran to prevent
him. He afterwards learnt that the Raskolniks, besides
considering it a sin to drink after a person not of their own
religion, even do not drink out of a vessel that has been
used by their wives ; and had Bentham thrown the water
into the well again, it would have been reconsecrated.

RASKOLXIK MARRIAGE RITES. 31

May 5th. — The Prata Pope having sent to say that he
was about to marry a couple, Bentham went to the church
to witness the ceremony. As the bridegroom had no
parent alive, one of the priests stood at his right hand as
father, the bride's mother at the left of her daughter.
The bride's face was covered with a handkerchief, which
was taken off by the mother, as the priest, advancing, put
a piece of coarse linen on the ground for the bride and
bridegroom to put each of thern one foot upon. The bride
stood with the air of a criminal, not daring to raise her
eyes from the ground. One of the priests then brought
two wax candles to the Prata Pope, who took one of them,
and having it in his hand, crossed the bridegroom thrice.
The young man then crossed himself, received the candle
from the priest, and kissed his hand. A similar ceremony
was repeated with the other candle and the bride. The
priest read a prayer, after which, turning to the couple
he took both their rings, and went behind the altar,
another priest reading a prayer the while. At the Prata
Pope's return he asked the young couple their names:
whether it was from true love they wished to be united,
and whether either of them were under promise to another
person. These questions having been satisfactorily answered,
prayers were again offered up, and incense brought by a
priest to incense the images. The Prata Pope then returned
the rings to the young couple with the same forms with
which he had received them. They change rings, the bride-
groom putting his ring upon the bride's finger. A silver
cup of wine is then brought to the Prata Pope; — the young
couple cross themselves; — the cup is given to them to sip
from alternately two or three times, till between them its
contents have been sipped up. Two gilt cups with crosses
upon them are then brought to the priest which, with the
same ceremonies, are put into their hands, which he after-
wards joins together. Then taking both their hands so
joined, he leads them round the Holy Bible three times,

32 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

singing to them the whole time. A boy reads the duty of a
husband to his wife, and of a wife to a husband ; the Pope
gives them his blessing and desires them to kiss one another
thrice, and thus the ceremony ends. The Prata Pope was
invited to dine with Bentham, which he did at half-past
twelve o'clock (that, and till one o'clock, being the usual
dinner time ; from nine to ten supper ; breakfast at about
seven, tea at all times of the day and upon every visit of
ceremony or friendship).

May 12th. — The Prata Pope dined with Bentham. The
conversation turning on the Kaskolniks, the Prata Pope
said that, rather less than fifteen years since, when they
were obliged by the Russian authorities to change their
religion, these Raskolniks used to assemble in numbers
of from twenty to thirty, to burn themselves alive — they
even burnt and murdered their children. They assem-
bled in a house prepared for the occasion, with fire-
wood, hemp, pitch, and whatever combustibles could be
obtained, in the midst of which they seated themselves.
Some, not considering themselves worthy of God's blessing,
or fearful of being able to endure the pain, ordered them-
selves to be tied ; the pile was then set on fire. The priest
said he had received information that a party of thirty had
assembled for the purpose of burning themselves, though
it is seldom that notice is taken of such self-sacrifices till
they are accomplished. On that occasion the Prata Pope,
with all his priests, set out for the place indicated, but
had the misfortune not to arrive till too late. He saw
several dead bodies burnt to ashes ; his clerk took up bones
of the dead, and lingered in the smoke till it had such an
effect upon him, together with general excitement, that
he would not leave the place, saying that he too should
be blessed if he burnt himself also. He was influenced to
so great a degree, that the Prata Pope was obliged to keep
him under strict guard for four days. The Paskolniks
(or Kirgakies, as otherwise called) used to put their

GENERAL ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 33

children to death in various ways, as by burning, drawing,
stifling, &c. Sometimes they burned their bones to ashes,
and pounding them very fine, mixed a very little in food
and drink.

May 17 th. — A small boat was brought to the Factory to
be fitted with sails of Bentham's contrivance, which should
themselves change their position, and carry the boat on,
steering straight, without even a man on board. The
weather was so fine as to admit of drinking tea in the open
air at the bottom of a hill, and to remain reading and
writing till eight o'clock, by the water-side.

May 2Mli. — Bentham made an excursion to the Factory
of Kushva, distant forty-five versts, not setting out till
three in the afternoon. It was eleven at night before he
arrived at Kushva. His visit was unexpected, and the
Colonel-Commandant had lately died, so that it rested
with the Mayor to do the honours of the place. He
assigned the Colonel's house as lodging for the travelling
party of four persons, with their attendants. The supper
was not on table before twelve o'clock, but it was excel-
lent in kind, and exquisitely cooked and served. Amongst
various other things there was fine fresh butter, Parmesan
cheese, a delicious fowl soup, with vegetables, a fat capon,
beef steaks — all this at an out-of-the-way place on the
Ural Mountains.

On the 19th of June Mr. Bentham set out on an excur-
sion to Catherinaburg.

Notes were taken indicating the return of warm weather
by the progress of vegetation and otherwise. The first
salad that appeared at table was on the 13th of May.
On the 1 9th June the heat was so great, that bed-chamber
windows were left open all night ; roses, and other wild
flowers were gathered in the woods; snipe was shot on
the 20th; and hay-making began on the 12th July.

In a letter dated July 11th, Nijni Taghil, speaking of
this long excursion of about 2200 versts, he says : " The

D

34 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

country I have been riding through is in general very
beautiful ; a great part of the way I appeared to be going
through an English park. The weather was very fine, the
hay perfumed the air, and one can seldom go ten or a
dozen miles without seeing a river or rivulet. Birch trees
and the several different kinds of firs form a principal part
of the roads. The birch -tree is in great abundance, and grows
to a large size, but it is a very unprofitable production in
this part of the country, though so valuable near Arch-
angel. It is the best of the fir-trees for building ships ; but
as the woods are used here only to make charcoal for the
mines — and this makes the worst of charcoal — it is almost
entirely useless. Corn but seldom thoroughly ripens on the
ground, so that the cultivation of it is not much followed.
It is a good crop that produces tenfold what was sown,
whereas in the Government of New Eussia it is said to
produce a hundredfold. The puddles were covered with
ice for some nights together, near three weeks ago, and the
appearance of winter comes on apace." Eavens seem to
have abounded, for he sends bundles of quills to his brother,
" enough to supply your harpsichord for your lifetime. It
is in this country that the happy effects of a reformation
in jurisprudence is to be seen daily ; parts of the new code
which make their appearance from time to time prove the
attention that is still given to this subject.

"What think you of a governor who rules over 110,000
people, whose sole object is to avail himself of the power
given him only to produce as much happiness as he
can ? Such a man it is my good fortune to have formed
a friendship with. His name is Lamb ; he says he is
English, or rather of Scotch extraction. An ancestor of
his was taken into the service of a Czar before Peter the
Great; but in short, this is a matter so little interesting
compared to his good qualities that I have forgotten it.*'
To account for delay in the completion of a machine for

3

COXDI'. N OF WORKMEN IN FACTORIES. 3-5

working wood, he says that it had been retarded by "the
six weeks' holidays at this season of the year for the men
to make their hay," — an instance of consideration for the
workmen in an immense factory rarely to be met with in
any country but Eussia.

D 2

36 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BE^AM.

CHAP. III.

Perme — Improvements in Mining Pumps — Cavern near Perme— Collec-
tion of Minerals — Arrival at Tobolsk, January 1782 — Introduction to
the Anchree — Population of Siberia — State of Crime — Arrival at
Krasnojarsch — Mines at Narchinsk — The Chinese Frontier — Kiachta —
Visit to the Chinese Governor — Chinese Temples and Images — Fortune-
telling — Intercourse between Russians and Chinese.

He was present at the ceremony of the first opening, in
October 1781, of the new Grovernmen; of Perme, but his
chief object at this place was to collect information re-
specting the country between that place and the frontier
of China, as what he had already seen in Siberia led him
to expect much useful addition to his knowledge by under-
taking an extensive tour in that country. The greater
part of the Government of Perme is the property of the
Strogonoffs, and he had much satisfaction in rendering
them some little service. They derive a considerable
revenue from the salt mines, which they work on their
own account, selling the salt at a fixed price to the Crown.
On examining the several operations carried on in raising
the salt water, and for crystallising the salt from it,
Mr. Bentham found room for great improvements. He
suggested means of confining the fire-heat to the boilers
instead of losing, perhaps, some tenths of it, as also
a manner of employing the heat of steam from the
composition for warming a supply of the solution. But
perhaps the most advantageous improvement that he
devised, was an alteration of the pumps for raising the
brine from underground. The pipes through which the

CAVERN AT PEEME. 37

brine was pumped up were very small, the operation of
boring holes to a great depth being laborious and costly, and
the expense and difficulty of it increasing considerably in
proportion to an increase of their size. The then existing
pumps, though kept constantly going, never exhausted the
solution, so that Count Strogonoff had determined on a
costly work of two or three years' duration in boring more
holes. But Mr. Bentham had noticed that the sucking-
pumps in use only voided the fluid intermittingly, so that
when the piston was raised, the fluid below was at rest
during a time equal to that of the descent of the piston.
His simple device, therefore, was to have the upper part
of the pipe made double, with two pistons working in the
two pipes, these terminating in one pipe at the fixed valve.
Thus, by causing the pistons to work alternately, the fluid
from the lower pipe rose in a perpetual stream. The
double pipe, carried down to a depth of forty- nine feet,
was in a part where the ground is always opened to a
large diameter for other purposes ; it was in the remainder
of the total depth of 245 feet that the great saving was
effected.

During his stay at Perme, he visited a cavern celebrated
for its minerals, and relates his exploring adventures as
follows : — "In the evening I set out for the cavern, in
which I spent two days and a night, as I found when I
came out, for all is darkness there, and I happened not
to have my watch with me. The entrance to this cavern
might well put me in mind of poor Gil Bias' residence.
It is true the one I was in was not covered with a trap-
door, but the hole was so small that such a precaution
would have been unnecessary. Although there was snow
on the ground, it was necessary to pull off all but my
waistcoat not to run the risk of sticking by the way.
Thus prepared we crouched on our stomachs for eight or
ten fathoms. We then were able to raise ourselves up on
our hands and knees, soon afterwards on our feet in a

D 3

38 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

stooping position, and in about a hundred fathoms we
came to a spacious vault-like opening : it was, as you may
imagine, much warmer than above ground. My com-
panions consisted of my interpreter and a servant, with
ei^ht or nine peasants, some of whom had been several
times, and had penetrated as far as their fears would let
them. These gave an account of a lake which they had
seen, or rather heard something plunge at their approach ;
but no one had ever attempted to pass that lake. The
site or rock in which this cavern is formed, consists of
calcareous stone of a greenish colour. The water from
above, as it filters through into the cavern, forms crystals
of various figures ; it is in search of such curiosities that
people have, from time to time, been sent here. I went
partly with the same views, but more, perhaps, with the
expectation of observing something which, in those who
had been sent there, might through fear, ignorance, or
laziness, have passed unnoticed. We had a provision of a
pood, or thirty-six English pounds, of candles with us, so
that, supposing they would burn, we were in little danger
of wanting light. As our course was up and down pre-
cipices, of ten or twenty feet in height, and we had each of
us a basket or bottle of provisions of some kind to en-
cumber us, we were not very expeditious. The distance
to this lake had been magnified to about twelve English
miles, but, however, after turning round and round two or
three times to the same place, in about four hours we
arrived where this lake ought to have been. Xothii ,
however, but a puddle, a little over one's ankles, appeared,
and in a few fathoms we came to the end, which was no
more remarkable than any other part ; but by my compass
I perceived that in our course we sometimes turned quite
round : I cannot conceive the distance to be above three-
fourths of a mile. We now began to be hungry and
f'.itigued, but found it necessary to return about halt* way
before we found a convenient place to spread our table.

ADVENTURE IN THE CAVERN. 39

Some fine English cheese, which Sir James Harris had
supplied me with at my setting out from St. Petersburg,
with some English beer which Baron Shwonoff had
ordered to be packed up with a store of other provisions
for the occasion, made the most remarkable part of my
fare during my subterraneous residence. As nothing was
to be had to lie on but stones, in the choice of a bed place
the object was to find one stone, or a number of stones
nearly in one level, of a sufficient length to stretch our-
selves out upon. I had with me a large Spanish cloak,
to which I have been under great obligations on such
occasions. This I wrapped nearly twice round me, and
stretched myself out on one entire stone with a small one,
and my great coat upon it for a pillow. The rest did as
well as they could ; and after seeing that half a dozen
candles were fixed up, besides a little fire made up of bits
of wood that had been left at other times, I, no doubt, in
a few minutes made the cavern echo with my snoring,
and slept very sound for four or five hours ; when at
my waking, to my no small astonishment, all was dark-
ness. My interpreter, who was just by me at the same
time, let me know that the last candle was put out by
some water that dropped upon it from above, and that
he had just time, before that happened, to observe that
all the men were gone away. This was enough to alarm
me, as without light we neither of us could move a yard
without danger of falling down a precipice of eighteen
or twenty feet. It was absolutely in vain to have the
least thought of making our way out of the cavern with-
out assistance. However, I comforted myself and him
with the idea of having provisions within my reach,
which would be enough for a week or a fortnight, and
that on any supposition whatever, the same, or other
men, would come to see what would become of us in that
time. We had not, however, the pleasure of making our
reflections on tins situation above half an hour when a

D 4

40 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHA^I.

glimmering light appeared towards the way out. In any
country but this (not excepting England) I should have
been under some anxiety at seeing a light, from the doubt
I should have whether it might be friends or foes who
brought it. It proved to be two boys, whose business it
had been to look after the horses which were left near the
mouth of the cavern, and whom the men had sent to us in
their stead. We could learn nothing from these boys as
to the reason why the men had left us ; all that they could
tell was that they were laid down to sleep on the outside
of the cavern by a good fire. Although I was determined
not to quit the place till I had explored all the windings
in it, yet I thought the most certain way of getting the
men back was to go and fetch them. Therefore, loading
ourselves with some of the choicest stores we had collected,
we made our way out into the open air time enough to
find all the men asleep before a large fire. The reasons
they gave for leaving us were simple enough : they were
too tired to go through another day's fatigue without
sleeping, and they could not sleep in so cold a place.
You must understand that Russian peasants are used to
sleep in a degree of heat which would be very disagreeable
to those who were not accustomed to it. They said they
had left six candles burning, and had sent the two boys as
soon as they could. I stayed half an hour by the fire, and
in the mean time divided my company into three detach-
ments, for the purpose of taking different courses for the
better exploring all the parts of the cave. I cut a great
number of small pieces of paper of three different figures,
of which each detachment took a different figure, so as
that by scattering these pieces of paper in the way, one
party might know where the other had been. Thus pre-
pared we returned to our subterraneous employment. We
were now so well experienced in the scrambling up and
down the steep places, that in about seven or eight hours
there was not a hole but what some part of the company

COLLECTION" OF MINERALS. 41

had been in; after which, collecting together the stones that
we had selected from the different parts, we, with no small
pains, made our way out with them, and set off on our
return. The colour of our clothes, skin, and every thing
we had about us, however different they might have been
before, were now all alike. After all, in this same cave, I
could find no indications of its ever having served for
habitation for either man or beast ; nothing alive was to
be found but bats or winged mice and gnats. The former
were in great plenty ; the latter, which more likely had
taken shelter on the approach of winter, were but in small
quantities, and these, though they settled on our hands
and faces, had not seemingly strength to bite. All then
I got for my pains, besides a good collection of calcareous
crystallisations and stalactites, such as had already been
procured from this cave, was some specimens of one
or two sorts, such as I had not seen in the possession of
anybody else. Hitherto everybody had been deterred
from penetrating to the end of this subterraneous chasm
from fear and impatience of fatigue. It was an affair of
three days."

The making a collection of minerals had become an
object of no small importance to him. It now remained
to have forwarded to St. Petersburg three or four thousand
pounds' weight of cojmer and iron ores, specimens of crystals,
(fee, " all chosen specimens, even here on the spot," which
were afterwards transmitted to England, and distributed to
Lord Shelburne, and other friends. These specimens had
been collected in the course of the above-mentioned excur-
sions of fourteen or fifteen hundred miles on horseback,
during the time that his head-quarters were at Nijni
Taghil.

At Perme Mr. Bentham received a circular letter, under
a flying seal from Prince Viasemsky, Minister of the Civil
Department, requesting the commanders of the several
districts through which Bentham might pass, to give

42 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

him all the aid in their power for the furtherance of his
plans.

At the same time an Imperial ukase gave orders that
Major SoginofY should accompany Mr. Bentham to the
borders of China and other distant places, as he had re-
quested. Prince Viasemsky had also suggested by letter
to Sir James Harris that Mr. Bentham on his return should
pass by Taganrog, by the newly added Eussian provinces,
to visit Cherson. The Prince also furnished him with no
less than eighteen private letters of recommendation to
different governors and other Bussians of rank, to which
were added nine from Prince Potemkin, and about
seventy others from various friends to different influential
persons.

"It is now January 1st, 1782, O.S. — I believe my
birthday according to your heretical way of counting. If
you have not forgotten me to-day at Queen Square Place,
and have any sympathy in you, you will begin a letter to
me this very evening. I am on my way to Tobolsk."

He had dismissed his interpreter at Perme, and was now
accompanied by Major SogiuorT, and was attended by a
corporal and a grenadier, appointed especially to serve him
during the journey. They none of them understood any
language but Euss, but by this time Bentham had become
master of it.

13f/i January. — Having arrived at Tobolsk at about
eight in the morning, he found no news of quarters being-
prepared for him. The Governor was ill in bed, and the
Place Major escorted him to a cold house, on which
Bentham says he "took miff," and ordered fresh horses
immediately, as he had sent a letter to the Govern or,
giving two days' notice of his arrival. He, however, sent
Matrei Ivanovitch to the Governor to know whether the
letter had been received. Then came apologies in answer,
a pressing invitation to stay a longer time, and saying that
the letter had not been forwarded. The Place Major took

ARRIVAL AT TOBOLSK. 43

him to a better house and a warmer one; then further
invitations to remain longer at Tobolsk were followed
by the Governor's chariot and six, with two footmen, also
a guard of honour, a serjeant and six soldiers, to learn
how and where he would have them placed. He declined
them as a guard, but accepted the services of three of
them to attend in their turn, one at a time, as sentinel at
his door.

After dining with the Governor, Bent-ham took his leave,
and called at the Ancliree's (Archbishop), with a letter of
introduction from General Kashkin. The Anchree came to
meet him at the very door, so that he was taken for a do-
mestic, and not spoken to till Matrei Ivanovitch kissed his
hand. They were presently seated in his apartment, the
letter read, and conversation commenced. It turned upon
the climate and productions of Eussia compared to England
— the Anchree had a hot-house, but could not succeed with
fruit — talked of China and the Archimandrite there. " His
air and conversation showed him to be quite the simple
bonhomme that I had heard he was, without the least eccle-
siastical importance. From him went to the Vice-Governor;
his wife to all appearance French, though really Euss. Three
or four were at cards, one of whom addressed me to let me
know it was an English game they were playing. He was
a man between forty and fifty ; forty-six as he afterwards
said ; very lively in conversation, which he seemed upon
some occasions pretty much to engross. The Governor's
lady exceedingly sprightly, gay, and pleasing, if not a beaut) 7 .
Cards, on my account, were soon at an end, and this man
placed himself between the lady and me. He spoke a few
words of English, said he had known it, but for these dozen
years had lost it for want of practice. It so happened we
talked of laws and new government, and I of the clemency
of the penal laws in particular, compared to those of other
nations, not excepting my own. After taking my leave, I
was not a little surprised that this facetious engrosser of

44 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

the conversation was Poushkin, the man banished for
forging bank notes."

I4:th. — " In the morning inquired about the fabric of
lacquered furniture in the Chinese fashion, but found that
there is only one man that does it, and that he has not
always work ; at present he had none that I could see. So
with respect to furs and Chinese commodities, no stock is
kept here, the merchants only transport their commodities
through the place.

"Went to see Volodinenoff, one of the capital merchants;
found him in a nasty saloop (a kind of loose dressing-
gown). I asked him if the master of the house was at home.
He told me he was the master himself. After presenting
brandy, tea-kettle and tea apparatus was brought into the
room, with bread and butter, cream in a cream-pot, which
was set in an empty basin, serving as slop basin, into
which boiling water was poured to heat the cream. He
showed me some tiger skins, which the Buchanans bring
to the borders; he deals also in other furs from Beresofska,
where he had been himself; said much of the honesty of
the people there; that they suffer any injury to themselves
rather than molest a stranger ; that they have no bread ;
they do not live in large villages, but dispersed about the
banks of those rivers which afford them most fish, and
in woods where there are most animals for furs. They
give furs in exchange for linen for shirts, coarse cloth,
tobacco, &c.

"The Governor says the barks made use of are the
worst possible for expedition ; they are square at both
ends, frequently without even oars — sails are never thought
of: this is the reason why water transport by the Irtish
is not more used, but if they could be brought to build
better vessels, it would be much more expeditious.*'

" At the Governor's to dinner, he still in bed. Poushkin
was there. We talked of the manner in which Siberia
became peopled : lstly. Permission was given to the nobi-

POPULATION OF SIBERIA. 45

lity to send any of their peasants there, in consideration of
which they were excused from giving the like number of
soldiers. 2ndly. By those sent for crimes. This may
be considered as an artifice by which the required number
of soldiers was kept up. 3rdly. By Easkolniks who came
to take shelter from the persecution which they suffered in
other parts of the empire. 4thly. Individuals purchased
by barter from the Kirgees ; but these are all Calmucks,
or at least go under that name, and do not amount to one
hundred in a year; according to the reports of last year
there were but twenty. 5thly. Eussians, who, even before
consent was given by government, used to come hunting,
and returned with what they procured, but by degrees
settled themselves. Gthly. A colony of Bucharians, about
thirty years ago, settled in the town, but they now are
mixed in great part with the Eussians. 7thly. Tartars,
ancient inhabitants of Siberia, with several other tribes,
who scarcely, and but by slow degrees, mix with the
Eussians.

" Murders there have been none, during the three years
that the Governor has been here, and only two attempts at
robberies ; one of them was on a merchant, known to have
much' money. He was attacked on returning from Irbit
fair ; he fired a gun and they ran away : in the other case
some merchandise was forcibly taken from a merchant,
near Tomsk. In the town of Tobolsk, small robberies
now and then happen, but are always discovered, as they
are committed only by pilferers, who go immediately
to the cabacs to get drunk with the profits of their thefts.
They talk of thirty-four and thirty-six degrees of cold
(Eeaumur)."

" The part of the country called the Baraba desert is
not without wood, but it is birch only, and for the most
part consisting of old trees, without any appearance of
young ones to supply their places. Within 150 versts of
Tomsk, the face of the country changes, it becomes hilly

4G LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

about the rivers. The weather warm or scarcely freezing,
and the buds on the trees begin to swell.

" ^^ T hen we were within two posts of Tomsk, I sent the
soldier on with the order from the Governor to the Com-
mander, requesting, at the same time, quarters to be pre-
pared, and the bath to be heated. The quarters assigned
me were at the principal merchant's, where, soon after our
arrival, came the Commander, a stout jolly subject, French-
man by birth and family, but had been forty-five }^ears in
the Eussian service. He eno-ao-ed me to take coffee at his
house, and was so urgent in his request that I would dine
with him next day that I could not refuse ; notwith-
standing my wish to hasten on to Kiachta, sat with him till
ten in the evening, after which a soft bed was not unwel-

come."

" On the 26th arrived at Krasnojarsh." .... Here a
chasm occurs in his journal, but he appears to have passed
some little time amongst the Bratski, nomades in the
Government of Tobolsk, and to have obtained a good deal
of information respecting this people. He says : " The
Tonjmses and the Bratski have not the least commu-
nication or intercourse with each other, their languages
are totally different, and their religion also ; although in
their manner of living, they so much resemble each other.
The Bratski, Mongol, and Don Cossack languages are
very nearly the same, as many of the Bratski read and
write the Mongol language, which is all the writing they
have. Their books are only religious. If they are super-
stitious, they are neither fanatics nor intolerant. The
principal religious injunctions are very moral, and as
they are drawn up, they may be made to give sanction to
any salutary injunctions whatever. The number of cattle
they keep arises from religious sanction. The head
Bratski has about seventy camels, which sell for about
thirty roubles a piece ; he has also from six to fifteen horses.
The camel's hair is cut off in the spring, and is used to make

CUSTOMS OF THE BRATSKI. 47

thread and small string. Camels have young once in two
years : they will carry forty pood ; but when loaded with
only twenty-five, they will travel with it thirty versts a day."

" One particular Bratski, Fedenka, seemed much to
wish to go with me ; he is a servant to one of his tribe who
serves the post ; he receives as wages ten roubles ; he is
eighteen years of age, no wife or much hope of procuring
one, as parents do not give their daughters without a good
price in cattle, from six or eight to one hundred head of
large cattle, camels, horses, ,or oxen. If few have no more
than one wife, it is because they are not rich enough to
afford more; those who can afford it have two, three, four
or five wives. They suffer much from cold and from
hunger ; they eat but once a day, and that of their dried
meat. We treated them with fresh butter, and different
meats I had with me. They devoured the feast with great
expressions of joy. They are also very fond of bread,
although not accustomed to it. Dirty scrapings flung on
the floor they gathered up, and never left what a dog or
cat would have eaten.

" At about three versts from the village of Nicolai, a
view of the sea of Baikal presents itself. It is seen be-
tween the mountains where they divide and give an outlet
to the Angora; at the same time the prospect between those
hills is bounded by the great mountains near 100 versts
on the other side of the sea. These mountains are still
almost covered with snow, only those prominences the
most exposed to the sun being as }^et thawed. We passed
by Mcolai wharf to Listvenishna, ten versts further. The
road was dirty on account of the late rains, and two or
three rivulets, which we drove across, were not furnished
with bridges, though . the water came up nearly over the
fore wheels. These rivulets, falling with great velocity
from the hills on the left, contributed to the forming some
delightful spots. The young birch trees and a variety of
flowers added to the general luxuriance of the ground,

48 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

giving all between the mountains and the river the appear-
ance of those situations most prized in England.

" To add to the repast we were preparing for ourselves
at Listvenishna, I sent for wild nettles, of which two sorts
were brought. The people were surprised that such things
were good to eat, but when I had boiled them, the dish was
relished by all the company. For myself I thought them
little inferior to spinach.

" On the way to Narchinsk chance presented an instance
of the mechanical ingenuity of a peasant. It was a trap
for wild animals, in which the bait was attached to the
string of a bow in such manner that the elasticity of the
bow was such as to occasion the fall of the trap on the
slightest motion of the string. On reaching another
fabric we made an excursion of half a dozen versts to a
spring of Seltzer water. It is in a pleasant vale, sur-
rounded by hills. The spring issues from a hole nearly
in the lowest part of the vale. After spreading itself for
about twenty yards it runs into the river. At present it is
frozen so as not to run, but a hole of a foot diameter is
broken through the ice (now six inches thick), and here
the water is taken up."

25 th February. — At Narchinsk he found a serjeant waiting
at the first guard-house to conduct him to the lodgings
which had been for a week prepared for him. They be-
longed to the possessor of the only silver mines that were
in private hands. On examining plans of the different
mines in the vicinity, there appeared a great w T ant of
economy in the manner of their exploitation.

In the smelting of the lead ore containing silver, he says
that, " at the instant the last of the lead is drawn off the
silver remains. This is taken out, in general, in lumps; but
lest small pieces should remain, which might be pilfered,
iron grates are put to the aperture, and a chain passing
round them is sealed in the presence of an officer." From
thence to the laboratory, where the director was proving a

THE CHINESE FRONTIER. 49

mineral which he found to be a rich ore of bismuth ; then
to that gentleman's lodgings, which were at the school. He
had a small collection of minerals, and the beginning: of a
cabinet, intended to be appropriated to the Crown. In
this collection specimens of every variety of mine are
lodged, with marks affixed, referring to like numbers on
the plans of the several mines, showing the parts of them
from which each specimen is taken. This cabinet when
completed, at the same time that it will exhibit the several
varieties which this part of the country affords, will give
an excellent description of the component parts of each
mine, in as far as it has been worked. Such a description
of cabinet cannot but assist a judicious mineralogist in his
researches as to new mines, and new manners of working
them, as well as in continuing to advantage the working of
the present mines."

" The river Angora, which forms the boundary to the
Chinese frontier, is but ten versts from Narchinsk. The
water of the Angora is very good, and deep enough for
the largest boats. The country all around, as far as could
be seen, exceedingly hilly ; scarcely any wood to be seen ;
what little there was, very small, but at the same time the
country is fertile in iron."

" At 9 in the morning on the following day we set out
and alighted at a house, the cleanest and most orderly I
had seen in any part of the empire. The owner of it was a
criminal who, in Eussia, had been both robber and mur-
derer. His wife presently set before us some brunitska
berries and white bread. The man had not only become
the most orderly possible, but was particularly noted for
the good he does."

" We reached the Zavod about 7 o'clock in the morning.
The Commander, a German about fifty years of age, was
an acquaintance and fellow-student of Dr. Solander. He
had taken great pains in the chemical department, and
they were not fruitless. A species of mineral which the

E

50 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

others had been throwing away, not knowing its properties,
or suspecting its value, he discovered to be a rich ore of
mercury. Narishkin was at that time Commander, and in
the name of the Empress gratified him with a reward of
1500 roubles for his discovery. He employed the sum in
giving a kind of affluence to his menage until the end of
Narishkin's command, when the 1500 roubles were re-
quired back from him, on the pretence of Narishkin's
having lavished the Crown money. The greatest part of
this money had been employed, and much of it irrevocably
spent ; therefore half his salary was kept back till this last
year, when the whole of the money had been repaid.
This same ingenious and industrious man discovered that
another mineral, which had withstood the experiments and
researches of other chemists, was a rich ore of zinc. For
this he had not even been thanked. He seemed to hint
that he knew of tin ore in the neighbourhood, but was
not disposed to give himself much trouble in researches,
having so much reason to regret those he had pursued.
He gave me some ore of mercury and several other rare
specimens. He has an excellent cabinet of Japanese as
well as Eussian minerals. He had also, as well as several
others, received promotion in rank from Narishkin, but
was reduced as well as all the rest. Whatever crimes that
man (Narishkin) had been guilty of, certainly he had in
many cases attended to the reward of merit."

Mr. Bentham, instead of being stopped at the gate of
the suburbs of Kiachta, was met by a soldier, who desired
the driver to follow him, "and then conducted us to
quarters prepared for me. They were at a merchant's, the
best house in the town. As soon as dressed, sent for
sledges and drove to the Director's. There was something
particularly amiable in the appearance of this gentleman,
his lady and family, which consisted of eight children,
from sixteen years of age downwards. I knew that I could
have admittance to Chinese merchants; but as to the Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMS. 51

Commander, it seemed doubtful as to whether I should
have permission to visit him. After refusing pressing in-
vitation to stay supper, went out to call on the Com-
mandant. He also doubted whether the Sergetsky would
permit me to visit him. At my return to my quarters,
found the supper I would not eat at the Director's sent
here in readiness for me."

" The next day, having dressed by 9 o'clock, set out,
intending to call on the Director, but met him on his way
to my quarters."

" A note came from the Commandant, saying that the
Sergetsky much wished to have the honour of my visit.
This apparent change in his disposition seemed surprising.
Immediately after dinner, Matrei Ivanovitch and I drove
to Kiachta, and alighted at the Lieutenant's, who is the
Commander there. The winter road is on the river
Kiachta, and is not more than three versts. After settling
the ceremony to be observed, sent to let the Sergetsky
know that we were coming. Imagining that more parade
would be expected if we went in sledges, than on foot,
I proposed that we should walk, the distance not being
more than half a verst."

The notes of this first interview appear to have been lost ;
the next remaining note runs thus : — " As I wished to see
the Chinese manner of eating, we went by 11 o'clock to
one of the merchants. He had dined, but understanding
the purpose of my visit, he prepared a second dinner. This
was shortly done, as it consisted of cold dishes, with one
exception. This was hashed meat, enclosed in coverings of
paste, and boiled — a kind of dumplings, not too large to be
taken into the mouth at once. They were served in basins,
about a dozen in each of them, one of which was presented
to each of the company. Four of us sat crossed-legged to
the table. Each person was provided with a saucer, in
which was a piece of sugar-candy, and some thick, black,
but not ill-tasted vinegar, poured upon it. This served as

E 2

52 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

sauce, into which the dumplings were to be dipped when
broken in halves, thus to be made two mouthfuls of. Two
or three of the other dishes were filled with hashed meat,
made into small lumps of different figures. Salt fish
formed another dish ; a kind of isinglass another. There
were fried batter cakes covered with sugar, but all in very
small pieces. Different pickles, in still smaller saucers,
were placed between the other dishes. The whole had the
appearance of what children in their piny call making a
feast, when all is in miniature, and seems more to look at
than to eat.

" When returned to the Eussian merchant's, came a mes-
sage from the Commander, to let me know the Sergetsky
was at his house, and to ask if I would take that oppor-
tunity of seeing him again. I went immediately.. The
Commander left the Sergetsky to come out to the steps to
meet me, and as I came into the room the Sergetsky left
his sofa to meet me. We shook hands in the Chinese
manner with both hands. He had been seated on the
sofa, to which a table had been put, the Commander on
a chair by the side, according to the Russian custom. The
suite were standing. Whether by accident or design I was
placed on the sofa with the Sergetsky, but next to the
Commander ; so that I was between them. The tea and
three glasses of punch, which were successively served, the
Commander handed to me first. The Sergetsky seemed
the first time piqued at this, and declined accepting. The
Commander, however, in the pressing manner of the Rus-
sians, took the glass and put it down to him on the table.
In conversation, the Sergetsky asked my age ; I did the
like by him. Upon his answering forty-four, I observed
that by his looks I should have imagined him to be much
younger. He replied that possibly that appearance had
been in consequence of the healthiness of the part of the
country he had long lived in — Canton. This not a little
surprised me, as he appeared to be so very ignorant of Euro-

CHINESE TEMPLES. 53

pean concerns, notwithstanding the trade that is carried on
with England at that place. To assure myself of his
veracity I inquired if he corresponded with friends there,
and if he did, would he favour me so far as to convey a
letter from me to my countrymen, to which he readily
assented ; and after some inquiries as to my object in
writing, it was settled that my letter should be forwarded,
if closed with a flying seal."

" When we had drunk the stated number of glasses of
punch, he took his leave, got into his two-wheeled cart
drawn by one horse, two men leading it, and set off: his
attendants were some of them on horseback, others on
foot : his saddle-horse was led after the carriage."

66 Kiachta, the general mart for all the commerce carried
on by the Russians with China, is, properly speaking, two
separate towns — one of them, Kiachta, inhabited by Rus-
sians — the other, Naimatchin, by Chinese. Naimatchin
has three gates towards Kiachta, three towards China, and
one gate on each side of the town. There is not any theatre
at Naimatchin. On the site of a former one a new temple
has been built : the merchants erected it in thanksgiving
for the prosperity of their commerce. The principal figure
in this temple is a goddess with a golden face, and other-
wise richly mounted ; on her right hand a smaller figure,
its hands in a praying position ; on the other side, a girl
holding what they said was a cloth, and they added that
both figures were servants. The pedestal on which the
principal figure's feet rest, as she sits, is supported by two
figures. Behind the goddess, and fronting the opposite
way, is a rather smaller figure, which is said to be her son :
he has a looking-glass at his breast, holds his hands in a
praying position, his knees a little bent, and across them a
piece of fanza. This, they say, is not according to their
religion, but was permitted at the request of a Mogul, the
commander of the limits."

" Painted on the walls on each side are nine figures,

E 3

54 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTIIAM.

very much resembling Christian saints: they have all glories
round their heads ; some hold beads, shorter indeed than
the Catholic rosary, and two books. Above these are some
little figures, one of them a man on his knees receiving
punishment from a whip. A judge sits to see the exe-
cution of the sentence. Near this group is a woman, a
sister of their gods. Some of the saints on one side were
hideously ugly, meagre, and attenuated ; on the other side
a frightfully fat saint ; but all of them had glories."

" All the gods look towards their country, excepting the
goddess in the new temple, who looks towards the great
pagoda, to which it is near and opposite. The principal
god in the great temple has eight or ten dresses : the mer-
chants, when he assists them, make vows to give him a
new coat, and as no one is ever taken off, the new dress is
put over the old ones. War instruments are kept on each
side the platform leading to the pagoda from the portico."

" For fortune-telling there is a vessel about the size of
a quart mug full of fortune-telling pieces that have letters
on them : any person desirous of learning his future fate
takes one of these pieces and searches for a corresponding
figure or letter in a book which lies by, and thus ascer-
tains his future. This may be done at any time, but is
chiefly performed either on the new year's day or on the
man's own happy day. The fortune-seeker puts money
through holes in the altar into a sealed drawer. By per-
mission of the Sergetsky, this drawer is opened by twelve
men chosen for the management of the affairs of the
temple."

" The god of the temple in the G-obirsky desert (which
is between this and the great wall) died about five years
ago. The great lama was immediately sent to, inquiring
whither the soul had passed. The commissioners were
informed that it had entered the son of the Mogul who was
commander of the lines. This is a boy, at that time not
three years old. He was taken immediately to the temple

TRAFFIC BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA. 55

to be taught his duty. It is sometimes asked, why
teach a god ? The reply is, that the soul, being god,
has no need of instruction; but that the body must be
instructed. The boy's father must no longer call him son,
but worship the child instead of receiving filial duty from
him.

" In the traffic between the Eussians and the Chinese,
the China merchant always comes to the Russian, but only
to his shop or dwelling-house, not to the storehouse. The
Chinaman asks the Russian if he has such and such mer-
chandise ; if so, and if the meeting be at the house, the
Russian either accompanies the customer to his shop, or
sends some one thither with him to see the goods. The
Chinese merchant returns to the house, and over a cup of
tea the price of the goods is settled in roubles : next has to
be determined what kind of Chinese merchandise is to be
received to that amount, and at what price. On this
valuation of Chinese articles, not only species is inquired
into, but also from whence they came, where fabricated,
and every other circumstance influencing value. These
preliminaries arranged, the Russian accompanies the Chi-
nese home, inspects the goods, and, if according to agree-
ment, brings them home with him."

" The Chinese do not make use of sledges, but transport
their merchandise either on the backs of camels or in two-
wheeled carts drawn by oxen. The wheels of these carts
do not turn on the axle, but are fitted on to it so that the
whole turns together."

" There is no interpreter provided by the Russian
Crown, nor is there any allowance for such an office. That
government allows only the insignificant sum of twenty
roubles a year for the payment of spies and other political
expenses ; nor is there anything allotted for shows or enter-
tainments, excepting 30 vedros a year of common Russ
brandy. This allowance is made to the major who com-
mands the borders of China ; but as he does not himself

E 4

5Q LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

receive the Chinese, he gives six vedros to each of the
officers who reside at Kiachta.

"The Sergetsky's duty is confined to the police of
Naimatchin, and to the commerce between Russia and
China. All matters that have reference to the frontiers
are in the department of a Mogul styled Commander of the
Frontiers. He is the superior in rank everywhere but at
Naimatchin."

"A few anecdotes were obtained indicative of the policy
and manners of the two nations in their intercourse with
each other ; amongst them a remarkable one relative to
an endeavour on the part of the Russian Commandant
of the Frontier to reconcile Russian law with the treaty
existing between that country and China. According to
the terms of that treaty, in the case of a man of the one
nation passing its boundaries and committing robbery or
murder, the punishment should be death ; yet, according
to the then existing Russian law, capital punishment was
abolished. It happened at two different periods, the one
three, the other four years ago, that seven Chinese who
had been guilty of these crimes were taken, tried by the
Chinese, and condemned. Thereupon, the Russian major,
fearing that should any Russians be guilty of the same
offence the Chinese would require that they should suffer
death, gave orders that the punishment of the condemned
Chinese should not be required, or at all events that no
Russian should witness it. The Chinese, however, to
show the exactitude with which they fulfilled the treaty,
endeavoured to engage Russians to be present at the
execution ; but not being able to effect this, the Chinese
commander invited the Russian in command to visit him
on the day appointed for the execution. The Russian
accepted, but on perceiving the object of the invitation,
feigned sudden illness, and endeavoured to get home ; but
the Chinese officer, running after him, retained him as it
were by force to see the execution."

TREATMENT OF CONVICTS. 57

CHAP. IV.

Condition and Treatment of Exiles in Siberia — He descends the Angora
from Irkutsk — Letter to his Brother Jeremy Bentham — Fanaticism of
Russian Peasants — Appeal on the Murder of a Tonguse — Slave Trade
of the Kirgees — Fertility of Siberia — He visits Nijni Novgorod —
Returns to St. Petersburg, and presents a Report to the Empress —
Declines Lord Shelburne's Offer of a Commissionership of the Navy —
Sir James Harris leaves Bentham as Charge d' Affaires at St. Peters-
burg — He is appointed a " Conseiller de la Cour," and entrusted with
the Works of the Fontanha Caual — Engagement with the Niece of
Prince Galitzm — Letter of Sir James Harris — The Engagement finally
broken off — He is appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in the Russian Army,
with the Command of the Southern part of the Country.

On Bentham's return from Kiachta, he interested himself
warmly in the fate of culprits exiled to Siberia. He
observed: "I have had an advantage which could be
obtained at this period only. I have had opportunities
of witnessing the injustice which was habitual under the
former mode of government, and at the same time the
impossibility of committing it under the new. I have
been in districts at the time when the old form still re-
mained in sufficient force to judge of its effects, and I have
witnessed the advantages of the new form in places where
it has been introduced. I have seen proofs of the very
mistaken notions that are entertained of the treatment to
which exiles are subjected in Siberia. I passed through
several villages in my way from Kiachta to Barnaval,
which were inhabited entirely by exiles from different parts
of Russia, and who had received the knout. There were
no guards, nor any other people within the distance of

5S LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

perhaps a hundred versts. These exiles cultivate their
land, and enrich themselves in a manner they never would
have done in Kussia. The idea of fear never entered my
head when amongst them. On setting out from St. Peters-
burg I had thought it necessary to provide pistols and
other arms, but I had never used, seen, or even inquired
about them since I entered Siberia. Some of the men
employed in the mines do, it is true, occasionally run
away, and have in that case no other means of subsistence
but that of pilfering in the villages they pass through in
the course they take for escape ; but as this happens in
summer only, they are generally taken before winter sets
in. The punishment for such escape was formerly severe,
and sure to be inflicted : this made them resolute in self-
defence, and consequently blood was frequently shed on
both sides ; but of late years, by making the punishment
for simple desertion light, though still heavy in the case of
violence committed, these runagates almost always return
of themselves in the course of a few days."

" The number of working days in the year is 270,
but those who labour at the furnaces are allowed every
third week as holiday. For some descriptions of work
in which free people are employed, the pay given for
it amounts only to twenty, eighteen, and even so little as
fifteen roubles a year."

In a letter to his brother, Bentham says : " I am now
descending the Angora from Irkutsk to Jeneseisk in a bark
in which merchants are transporting their goods from
Kiachta to different parts of Russia. You never in your
days beheld such a romantic scene as I have at present
before my eyes : mountainous rocks descending into a broad
and rapid river, and forming in it little islands, exhi-
biting to the imagination the ruins of castles and towns
of various figures. Farther on delightful meadow ground,
with clumps of birch trees, bounded by a thick, deep
green wood. A straggling village, with a white church,

LETTER TO HIS BROTHER. 69

that has a gilded cross on it ; not a cloud to be seen ;
and to complete the whole, a peasant on the shore, while
his cattle are drinking at the river, sits on a willow
stump and entertains us as we pass with a charming lively
pastoral air on a Scotch bagpipe. I regret the swiftness
with which we glide along out of hearing of these pastoral
notes."

To his Brothei" Jeremy Bentham.

" Tobolsk, August 28th, 1782, O.S.
"At Omsk fortress, on the frontiers of the empire, towards
the Kirgisian territories, I learnt, by the Russian Gazette, of
Rodney's success in the West Indies. The post, arrived to-day,
brings the disagreeable news of the critical situation of Lord
Howe, who, with only twenty-two sail of the hue, seems liable
to be exposed to and even determined to engage the fleet of the
enemy, amounting to forty sail. The same papers give some
little hope that our fleet may be reinforced to thirty-five sail ;
if so (as according to my calculation 35 + Lord Howe's abilities
= 40), we shall be a match for them. Such very interesting
public news, together with the circumstance of my not having
received a single letter from England of a date later than
October last, makes me anxious to an extreme degree to reach
Petersburg, and almost incapable of supporting the least delay
in my journey. The opening the new mode of jurisdiction in
this government takes place here the day after to-morrow, and
though this is what I wished much to be present at, and had pro-
mised to stay for, yet upon the receipt of this last news I lost all
patience. I went directly to the Governor-General for the purpose
of taking leave. Nothing, however, would he hear about taking
leave ; vowed he would not let me have post horses till the day
after to-morrow, and in short Avill not permit me to set off before
that time. In the mean time 'tis true I shall rest myself a little,
which upon the whole may not be time lost. From Barnaval here
I have not slept but in the carriage, and as the roads are bad at this
time of year my sleep could not be very sound. From hence to
Petersburg I shall not be disposed to give a single hour to rest.
This letter goes by courier who sets off directly, yet I hope to be

60 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

at Petersburg a few days after him, notwithstanding the prefer-
ence on the road with which couriers are served.

" How vexatious it is that I cannot know a syllable of what you
are about now ; at such a time as this you must certainly be other-
wise employed than in pursuance of your former works. The re-
inforcements for Lord Howe not being ready makes me, as it
were, ready to jump out of my skin. Were I in authority I
should, I believe, never sleep but in my way from one dockyard
to another ; Messieurs the commissioners of the navy and dock-
yard officers should have no more rest than I have now on my
journey; the fear of such a whip before their eyes as one of my
grenadiers puts life into when my postilions are lazy, would make
these gentlemen a little more alert — a little Russian discipline
would work wonderful changes in such lukewarm dispositions.
The master shipwright himself, if he had nothing better to do,
should blister his hands in setting an example to the workmen.
Not one bit of ornament, or of accommodation for an officer should
occasion a moment's delay. Is it possible that carved work and
mouldings, planings and polishings, should, at such a time as this,,
make part of the employment of dockyard workmen, whose
labour is of so great moment ? Is an hour in the day, that is
half a day in the week, still spent in the cutting up and secreting
of chips ? Is it by such lying reports as are sent up that the
Lords of the Admiralty as well as the Navy Board, and whomso-
ever else it may concern, that the progress of works in the dock
yards is still judged of? They would get better information from
the newspapers."

It will subsequently be seen that at a much later
period, when Mr. Bentham engaged himself in the British
service as Inspector-Greneral of Naval Works, he did effect
the cessation of many abuses, that of chips amongst others ;
but that instead of the application of the whip as thus play-
fully threatened, all of his official communications exhibited
that it was not men but the system of management that
was at fault, and that it was the imperfection of accounts
that gave rise to and fostered lying reports.

Notes of the ceremony on introducing the new jurispru-

TOXGUSE SOCIETY. 61

dence have not been found, but it appears that he collected
a considerable mass of information as to facts illustrating
the eccentricities no less than the general habits and
opinions of the people. As an instance of the excesses to
which mistaken religious enthusiasm sometimes leads, he
noted particulars that had actually occurred about the
month of May of this year, 1782 : " A common servant in
the neighbourhood of Tobolsk, a man of a sect dissenting;
from the established religion, happened, in reading the
Holy Bible, to see that the end of the world was foretold to
be near at hand. Struck with the importance of this pro-
phecy, and considering it in some measure as a discovery
of his own, and himself as it were the author, he became
heated with a sort of sacred fire, and, conceiving that the
discovery reflected importance on himself, he set about
making his fanatic brethren proselytes to his opinions, and
soon found many to embrace them. Preparations for this
great event was now the business to which all else must
give way. The Eucharist was administered, and the most
severe fastings imposed. When the imagination of these
visionaries was worked up to a certain height their frenzy
rendered them impatient for the coming of the happy day,
for which they were so preparing; three of them were
already stoned to death, a woman and two children ; the
rest, to the number of fifty, assembled at a lake, fathers,
mothers, and children, and plunged themselves into it.
The enthusiast, after plunging a child of his own, on its
struggling to get out, rendered ineffectual its endeavours
to save itself, and held it under water."

" This man, however, enjoyed too great satisfaction in
the sensation of his own importance to thus put an end to
his own life, and so prevent him from making more prose-
lytes; but the Government getting notice of his proceedings
secured him, and he is now in chains awaiting his trial."

An extraordinary case of appeal to the Grovernor-
Greneral had been made in the case of a Tonguse who had

62 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

been killed in pity to his suffering state : " This man had
lost his senses, and though in this condition, so long as he
did no harm, he was allowed to follow his whimsies, and
was supplied with necessaries by the community. At
length, however, his madness took a mischievous turn,
so as no longer to be bearable by his companions. They
assembled together, therefore, to consult as to what should
be done with him : the general decision was that, as he had
become unhappy in himself and burthensome to others, he
should be killed ! This judgment was accordingly carried
into execution. The Tonguse, though a people living
solely by hunting, and in a part of Asia 3000 versts
northward of this place, are tributary to the crown of
Russia, and are obliged to report deaths to the nearest
seat of Government. The family of this man reported how
they had put him to death themselves, and for what reasons.
The tribunal to which the report came, knowing that
according to the Russian law these people would be prose-
cuted as murderers, appealed to the Governor-General for
directions as to how they were to proceed in this extra-
ordinary case. The Governor- General's answer was that
'as their motive had been compassion for the unhappy
being, attention must be paid to their peculiar way
of thinking, and therefore that in this case the letter
of the law must be waived ! ' Many are the occasions on
which a Governor-General in this land of various tribes is
called upon to exercise his judgment and his humanity in
the fulfilment of the difficult charge imposed upon him,
and for the due execution of which he is individually
responsible to his sovereign."

" One source of increase to the population of Siberia
arises from the depredations of the Kirgees : they seize
people of every description who foil into their hands, con-
sider their captives as lawful' property, and when they have
no occasion for their services, change them away like other
merchandise with Russian merchants ; merchants nut being

SALE OF SLATES. 63

noble, cannot generally possess slaves, but to encourage
this mode of acquiring subjects, the empress accords to
merchants the privilege of purchasing and possessing as
slaves people that they buy from the Kirgees. The heir
of a merchant cannot inherit serfs, consequently at the
death of the purchaser his slaves become free, and thus a
number of additional subjects are obtained every year.
These being the only kind of slaves a merchant can
possess, competition enhances the price of the commodity ;
a boy of ten years old will sell even up to 200 roubles.
General Kashkin has a boy of seven, and a girl of four,
which a merchant let him have at prime cost, 110 roubles
for the boy, 50 for the girl. Sometimes the Kirgees,
tempted by merchandise of which they are in want, will
give their own children in exchange for it."

" In the course of travels over such an extent of country,
so circumstanced as is Russian Siberia, any unprejudiced
foreigner would of course perceive many instances where
the management of it might be amended. Thus the policy
seems doubtful of entrusting the eastern confines of it to
the protection of the Bratski, a people so little attached to
Russia, or to any other country. It would seem that, were
Government better acquainted than they are with details
as to the habits of the different people in Siberia, with
the capabilities of the country, with its actual cultivation
and its commerce, a great increase of individual comfort to
the inhabitants might result, at the same time that the
revenues of the crown might be greatly augmented. It
occurred to me that such information might be afforded in
the most simple manner by means of charts and tabular
printed forms. A chart, for instance, exhibiting the state
of cultivation, and the population of the different provinces
of the Russian empire, at the period of the close of the
reign of Peter the Great ; another at that of Elizabeth ;
and so at the conclusion of successive reigns down to the
latest period. Were such charts to accompany the history

G4 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

of the empire, they would give a much more striking and
exact account of what improvements had taken place in
these respects under each reign than can be obtained by
words."

" It is in this country that human nature may be seen
in its greatest varieties, and where the most ample field for
its study is afforded. There is an assemblage of tribes of
various religions, several of which are intolerant in their
belief; yet all these people are politically united under
one Government, of which they all agree to be peaceable
members."

" Siberia has been thought capable of producing only a
small pittance of corn, and that by infinite labour ; on the
contrary, the peasants, who, in this country, are far more
indolent than in other parts of the Kussian empire, without
ever dreaming of bestowing manure on their ground, live
for the most part in abundance. Were a sea communication
formed from the mouths of the Siberian rivers, exportation
of corn would be carried to a great extent. One reason
why Russians have so long remained ignorant of the state of
Siberia, may be that officers sent to it have been interested
in representing it as unfruitful, in order to account for the
high prices they gave it to be understood must be paid for
necessaries. Having come to the country before the whole
of it was under the new jurisdiction, I myself have known

1000/. English to have been sent to the meeting at

where a person was sent to examine into abuses. This sum
was as a conditional fee upon his resolving to see all as it
should be. In the former mode it is impossible but that
means the most inhuman conceivable should sometimes
have been employed for the extortion of money by those
in power ; but such practices are now effectually at an end.
True, a degree of favour and countenance from those in
power may now, in fault of other recommendations, be to
be gained by small presents. And where is it not ? "

On the 3rd September he arrived at Catherinaburg,

RETURN TO ST. PETERSBURG. 65

visiting in his way manufactories as well as mines, pursu-
ing his route towards St. Petersburg by Kazan to Nijni
Novgorod, where he remained ten days. His halt at
Ivan Volesta was at the same house where Peter the
Great had dined. The monarch had come into it as a
boor, sat down and eat with boors, and it was not till after
dinner, when his people came in, that those in the house
knew him to be their sovereign. He had worked here
himself as a carpenter. " I had observed the good workman-
ship of the vessels built here, as well as their being of the
Dutch fashion : certainly it was Peter who had given them
this model, and had engaged them farther to give much
attention to the workmanship. At the pressing solicitation
of the people here, I ate some bread and salt with them."
In a letter to his brother, never completed, written at
Nijni Novgorod, he says, — "I have been here now 'tis true
a week, but it is with the utmost difficulty I have been
able to take time to write, and more than once have been
nearly taking resolution to quit the place in despair of
writing to you in it. Various have been the obstructions ;
for the most part over-pressing invitations of people bring-
ing me out in the morning to see one thing or another.
After dinner one day, a ball, another, a masquerade, and as
the Governor gives these entertainments on my account,
it was impossible not to stay them out. This made two
late mornings. All the world paid me their visits, three
or four of them at least I could not but return. Another
plague is that melons and water melons are in great abun-
dance, and finding that I was fond of them, I am crammed
with them morning, noon, and night : five times I ate of
them yesterday. Worst of all is that I am lodged at the
house of a prattling, troublesome, civil, old woman, who
has a pretty, good-natured daughter, who, unluckily for me,
takes it into her head, notwithstanding all I say to the con-
trary, that it must be irksome for me to sit at home
by myself, and thrusts herself and a little officer upon me."

F

66 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

By way of Novgorod and Moscow he returned to St.
Petersburg, where he arrived on the 9th October, 1782.

From the above it appears that he had reached Kiachta
as early as February 1782, the utmost extent of his travels
at this time, Kiachta being the frontier town in Siberia,
where all the Chinese commerce with Eussia is transacted.
It may here be mentioned that the Chinese authorities
allowed him to enter their territory, received him and
communicated with him amicably, and with a good deal of
liberality of sentiment and manner. They also made him
many small presents of teas and silks, which he afterwards
sent to his father and stepmother in England. Altogether
there was not evinced at Kiachta that jealousy of other
nations which was observed by the Chinese in other fron-
tiers of their dominions.

During this excursion he visited nearly the whole of the
mines in Siberia that he had not already explored, collect-
ing specimens, with a view to their economical as well as
geological importance. Amongst the copper ores, especially,
were several varieties previously unknown, with others of
great value, such as transparent crystals of copper, ma-
lachites, and powerful natural magnets. Nor was he
negligent of other branches of natural history. He sent a
collection of seeds to Sir Joseph Banks, amongst which
were several species that were new. From a lake in the
neighbourhood of Irkutsk, he sent specimens of the alkali
which it deposits, and which promised to be of value as an
article of commerce.

Prince Potemkin had great estates in the south of
Eussia, and many concerns connected with traffic, chiefly
about the Black Sea. He farmed the duties on many
articles, built ships for the Crown, supplied the army and
the Crown with almost all necessaries required in that part
of the empire ; he had manufactories of various kinds, and
was then clearing the waterfalls of the Dnieper at his oayii
expense. The Prince expressed an ardent wish, before Mr.

KEPOET TO THE EMPRESS. 67

Bentham set out on his Siberian excursion, that he would
render assistance in the improvement of those concerns.
Bentham declined any such engagement, as also others
that had been pressed upon him by the Demidoffs and the
Strogonoffs, " because," as he wrote to his brother, " such
an employment in this country would not be sufficient for
me — a man who is not in service under the Crown, however
rich he may be, is but little respected." He had, however,
promised that, on his return towards St. Petersburg, he
would visit the Prince's estates, and did so in a manner
which now enabled him to be of use when consulted by His
Highness respecting those possessions, as also concerning
marine matters in the Black Sea.

On Mr. Bentham's return to St. Petersburg, Prince
Potemkin undertook to present a paper prepared for the
Empress, and contrary to his usual well-known dilatori-
ness actually gave it to Her Majesty the day after he had
received it. In this paper he stated that his " long stay in
the Grovernment of Perme, had afforded opportunity of
observing such defects of the system of operations in use
there, especially in the mines and salt works, that he could
no longer suffer himself to regard them with the eye of
simple curiosity ; that it was impossible for him to perceive
imperfections in matters of such importance, without em-
ploying his thoughts in search of the means of remedying
them ; that the table annexed exhibited the methods
which appeared to him the best adapted to the operations
carried on, and that those suggestions were in part the re-
sult of his researches, some of them inventions of his own,
some of them belonging to the department of mechanics,
others to that of chemistry." The Empress approved of this
paper, and desired the Prince to obtain further details of
the proposed improvements.

Princess Dashkoff, also in January 1783, presented to
the Empress a chart which he had invented ; it was con-
trived to exhibit, at one view, the absolute and compara-

F 2

68 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

live state of the population of the whole, or of any part
of the empire. te A little thing," he says on mentioning
it, " too simple to have much merit." The Empress,
however, ordered a chart of one of her provinces to be
made on that plan.

The details of Mr. Bentham's proposed improvements
in the mines were speedily delivered to the Prince, who
with his habitual dilatoriness for some time neglected to
present them to Her Majesty, although she had thrice
asked for them. This delay prevented Mr. Bentham
from obtaining a private audience till the month of
March. Her Majesty then expressed herself as obliged
by his communications, and permitted him for the future
to state through the Princess DashkofY whatever ideas of
improvement he might entertain in regard to those parts
of the empire with which he was acquainted. This was
peculiarly agreeable on account of the intimacy and
friendship already existing between him and the Princess,
as also with her son Prince Dashkoff.

Lord Shelburne having become a member of the Ad-
ministration in England, now offered Mr. Bentham a com-
missionership of the navy. But his prospects in Kussia
were of a nature which induced him to decline the ap-
pointment ; although in a letter to his father giving the
reasons which influenced him, he says : " A strong attach-
ment to my country in general, a kind of patriotism —
arising from a comparison between that and every other
country I have seen — a longing desire to return to those so
entirely separated from me, and apart from whom I could
never long be happy — would not permit me to engage in
any plan here without very striking advantages."

His brother at this time had intimated his intention
of sending to St. Petersburg certain projects in law
reform, from which Samuel dissuaded him on the ground
that the heads of the law departments would think it a
shame for them with their experience to be beholden to a

RESIDENCE AT ST. PETERSBURG. 69

foreigner for improvements in the details in their business.
" Different, however," said he, " was the conduct of Count
OrlofT when the Empress gave him public thanks for his
services in destroying the Turkish fleet. ' I,' says the
Count, taking our countryman by the hand, 'had the
sincerest desire possible to serve your Majesty and my
country, but it is to Admiral Grreig's advice and abilities
your Majesty is indebted.' Had I been present at such
a speech my sensibility to the generous confession of the
Count would even have scarcely let me perceive the merit
of the Admiral, to which the words of the Count were
intended entirely to direct attention. This expression
which, from the character of the Count, seems to have
come from his heart, could not certainly, from a man in
his circumstances, but gain the hearts of his hearers.
But enough of this digression, and of sermonising from
your younger brother."

A variety of plans were in agitation for fixing him in
the Russian service, when, on the 30th May, after a dinner
to which Bentham had been particularly invited, Sir James
Harris took him aside, and proposed that he should take
charge of the diplomatic business from the time of his (Sir
James's) departure till the arrival of the new Ambassador, —
in short, that Mr. Bentham should become Charge d' Affaires.
Sir James had the complaisance to put acceptance on the
footing of an obligation to himself, saying that thereby he
should be enabled to leave Petersburg earlier than he
otherwise could do. Such an honourable post was not to
be refused, and Sir James wrote the same day to Mr. Fox,
acquainting him with the appointment.

In June Mr. Bentham offered, by letter, to inspect the
introduction of the improvements which he had suggested.
Her Majesty on reading it immediately expressed, in an-
swer, her desire to engage him in her service, and gave
him liberty to choose the place of his intended operations,
intimating at the same time that he should himself pro-

F 3

70 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

pose the terms and manner of engagement. The im-
portance of the mines in Siberia led his wishes to that
country, but this was over-ruled by the preference which
the Empress entertained for the improvement of those
at Olmutz. Still the appointment seemed to linger, and
he found that this delay was occasioned by his having ac-
cepted the appointment of Charge d'Affaires ; on learning,
therefore, that Sir James's successor was shortly to arrive,
Mr. Bentham gave up the post.

It happened, however, that circumstances bordering on
romance, with which the Empress was acquainted, deter-
mined her to fix Mr. Bentham for a time at St. Peters-
burg, and appointed him a " Conseiller de la Cour," with
the civil rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. The works of the
Fontanha Canal were given him in charge. In the course
of their execution he invented a new pile-driving machine,
such as would put an end to the habitual skulking of the
labourers, and by which at the same time the whole weight
of the men would act beneficially instead of only em-
ploying their muscular force. The machine was a kind of
ladder which yielded downwards on every step that the
men took, on the same principle as that of the walking
wheel ; but the kind of ladder which he devised was much
less cumbersome than the wheel, and therefore more easily
moved from place to place as the work of piling advanced.

During the summer he wrote either to his father or
to his brother many particulars which he had not had
leisure to note during his travels, among others his ob-
servations respecting the descent of bodies floating down
a river with the stream, the larger body always arriving
at its destination sooner than the smaller one, when both
started on their descent at the same time. A practical use
was habitually made of this fact by the managers of the
works at Nijni Taghil, who always despatched their small
boats some time before the large ones, in order that all
might simultaneously arrive at Tobolsk. Mr. Bentham

LETTER FROM SIR JAMES HARRIS. 71

gave the rationale of this; but the chief subject of his
letters at this time was that which caused the indecision
manifested in the transactions of this year. A matrimonial
alliance was in agitation with a niece of the Grand
Chamberlain, Prince Gralitzin, at whose house he made
acquaintance with the young lady, and where he met her
twice a week. The match was universally favoured by
the society of St Petersburg, the lady's mother only being
averse to it. The Empress herself took part in the affair,
even to the extent of recommending a private marriage.
The mother, however, her daughter being a rich heiress
and regarded as the principal person of the family, could
not consent to bestow her on a foreigner, though she
fully admitted that there could be no personal objection,
so that after months of anxiety the match was broken off.
The following letter from Sir James Harris to Mr. Bent-
ham's father bears flattering testimony to the young man's
honourable conduct in this romance : —

" Petersburg, May 21st, 1783.
" Sir, — I have had too much pleasure in your son's company,
ind have too much good to say of him, to make any apology ne-
cessary for addressing myself abruptly to his father, when I have
no other motive for so doing than to bear testimony that the whole
of hs conduct here has been such as does him the highest honour
and 'redit, and such as must give pleasure to those who, like
yourslf ? are connected with him by consanguinity, or like me
by reg r d and esteem.

1 I k«ow he has lately informed you of the probability of his
entering' n to a very desirable and lucrative matrimonial alliance
here — h.i\ it taken place it would have been so ; and had your
son enrpload the arts of seduction rather than have acted a fair
and uprigh Dar t 5 it probably might have succeeded — but he very
laudably pr erred the better method, and though the match has
failed, he ha re ceived universal approbation for his behaviour,
and even the s teem of those who rejected his connection. He
has now turnt hi s thoughts another way, and is, I hope, likely to
enter into a >y advantageous agreement with the Strogonoff

V 4

72 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

family, for the working of their mines in Siberia, for which, as
they are men of strictest honour and integrity, he is likely to
derive very considerable emolument. In whatever undertaking he
engages, he will, I am sure, be no discredit to his country, and you
need never be apprehensive of his doing wrong. Common justice
alone would induce me to say thus much, and as I am sure it will
give you pleasure to hear it, I end as I began, without any apology.
" I am, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

"James Harris."

From this time he was naturally led to wish for em-
ployment away from St. Petersburg, and the Empress on
her part was desirous of engaging him in improvements
relative to the mines of the Crown. He was in high favour
with most of the persons who had influence at Court. In
a letter from Csarskoe Zelo, 27th July, 1783, he says, " I
dined with General Landskoy, as I had done before, when
I came here, and his civilities and attentions to me
seem still to increase ; every mark of attention he showed
me while I was looked upon as a stranger I put all to
that account ; but the manner he treats me now that I
am entering the service is really flattering. What I learn
by it is that I enjoy the Empress's good opinion." Th^
place General Landskoy held in her Majesty's good graces
is well known. In continuation, Mr. Bentham adds' —
" Mme. Sherbinin who, you will please to remember he-ice-
forward, is Princess DashkofY 's daughter, is translatiig? or
rather has been attempting to translate, into Englisrsome
Essays on the history of this country, which are nc/ pub-
lishing, little by little, in a kind of monthly irigazine
printed at the Academy in Russian language. Tese said
essays, you are to know, are written by the Emress her-
self, and she still from time to time works har<at it, and
means to bring it down to the reign of th Empress
Elizabeth. I have the correcting, or somethes it might
be called re-translating, this ; which latter eiployment I
prefer, as it improves me in the Russian lan< ia ge.'

ST 45e RUSSIAN ARMY. 73

Notw?^ 711 ls Jling the supposed termination of the affair
of which Sir James Harris had spoken, the lady's constancy
occasioned its breaking out anew, so that Mr. Bentham
remained in a state of anxiety during the rest of the
year; but in January 1784 he acquainted his father that
there was a final end to all further hopes or fears upon
the subject. His conduct in the affair was approved of
to the last, but he says : " One consequence, however, is
that my plans in this neighbourhood must be abandoned,
at least for the present ; I must certainly quit Petersburg
till the affair is blown over, out of delicacy to her, so
f hat it is lucky that an offer of Prince Potemkin's affords
me a ^, ..a oDportunity. He wishes me to go to Cherson ;
he makes me Ko,, tenant-Colonel in the army, with
a promise of promoting me as BO o« as possible. As to
employment, I am to do anything I am fit for and
choose to do."

LIFE OF SIR SAMUixu BEXTHAM.

• for

CHAP. V.

Journey to the Crimea— He is settled for a Time at Cricheff— Preparations
for Ship-building — Extent of his Engagements — Military Duties —
Manufacture of Steel — Building of the River Yacht Vermicular —
Arming of a Flotilla at Cherson— Defeat of the Turkish Fleet, June 1788
— Bentham receives the Military Order of St. George, with the Bank of full
Colonel, and other Rewards — Privateering — Appointed to a Cavalnr
Regiment in Siberia — Excursion in the Country of the Kino* 13 *' 1 '' 89 —
Expedition to the Mouth of the River Ob — Kira~ ignorance of Fire —
Ship-building at Kamschatka for the A««rfcah Fur Trade — Visits Paris
on his Way to JEngJantU

The appointment that had been given to Mr. Bentham of a
lieutenant-colonel in the army, had never before been
granted either to foreigner or native until after they had
already served in an inferior military rank; the new
lieutenant-colonel had also the farther advantage of beinp;
independent of any other authority than that of Prince Po-
temkin. It may be considered as particularly honourable to so
young a man, and to a foreigner, that, besides enjoying the
friendship of the two successive English ambassadors, Sir
James Harris (Lord Malmesbury) and Mr.Fitzherbert(Lord
St. Helens), of the French ambassador, the Count de Segur.
afterwards so eminently distinguished by his literary works,
he was on equal terms of intimacy and friendship with most
of the principal persons who then figured at the Residence.
His journey from St. Petersburg was in the same carriage
with Prince Potemkin, who treated him more as he would
have done a son than even as a friend ; it was to visit the
Prince's estates and the newly acquired province of the
Crimea. After this tour of inspection, Lieutenant-
Colonel Bentham settled himself for a time at Cricheff.

STAY AT CHICHEFF. 75

This town is part of an estate, the property of the Prince ;
the whole estate is larger than any English county, its
population amounted to above 40,000 males. The country
produced the principal articles of naval stores in great
abundance, and they were of easy transport to the Black
Sea by the river Soje, which ran through the estate.

His friend, Colonel Kibaupierre, who had an estate on the
Dnieper, not far from Omsk, being desirous of engaging
some. Englishman, to introduce improvements, Lieutenant-
Colonel Bentham, on writing to his brother, in hopes of
engaging a suitable person, gave many particulars of the
present state and capabilities of the property. Although
snow remained on the ground five months of winter, the
land produced corn, hemp, and flax, and, in general, all
the hardy fruits of England. To give an instance of the
abundance of labouring hands, he mentioned that whilst
he was there his friend ordered a plantation to be made
on a spot which he had chosen for a garden, but where
there was not a single tree. The person in charge said he
would take 1000 of his (Colonel Ribaupierre's) mother's
peasants, and 300 of his own, and in one day he should
have a plantation of 3000 young trees, taken up with their
roots from the adjacent woods.

Bentham's letter on the subject of this estate exhibits
an instance of the way in which he could turn his
attention to agricultural as well as other matters. He
suggested the introduction of potatoes, and the making
of hemp and linseed oils, so that besides the profit
which these articles would afford, a still more consider-
able one would be obtained by fattening cattle with
the oil cakes. Owing to the deficiency of manure, the
returns of grain are poor, and it is miserably small.
" Ground is never manured nor seed sown here for hay ;
what happens to grow is cut ; ploughs don't take deeper
than about three inches, as you may imagine when I tell
you that never more than one horse about the size of an

76 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

ass is put to draw them." Since that time, there have
been in some parts of the empire great improvements in
agriculture ; but, generally speaking, it is still much in
arrear of the cultivation of land in other countries.

On Prince Potemkin's estate he sa} T s : " A man will
cultivate here six acres of land, besides his garden of
cabbages, turnips, carrots, &c. and the cutting of hay,
where he can find it growing on waste land, for his horses.
He ploughs his land, dungs it, sows it, reaps the corn, and
dries it in a kind of oven before he threshes it ; he makes
all his instruments, and, by the help of his wife, makes
his clothes, and supplies all his wants."

"May there not," he asks, "be a chance of obtaining
the sugar from some root or fruit so as to come cheaper
than what is imported ? Water-melons, for example, con-
tain as much as an equal weight of grapes, and they may
be had in some parts of the country as cheap as any
vegetable substance."

Settled at Cricheff, he says, in a letter to his father,
18th July, 1 784: " The natural advantages of the situation
of this place, together with the much more important
consideration of its being the private property of the
Prince, made me choose it for the puttiDg in execution
some of my ideas of improvement in ship-building. I am
to be at liberty to build any kind of ships, vessels, or boats,
whether for war, trade, or pleasure ; and so little am I
confined in the mode of constructing them, that one day,
in arguing with the Prince about some alterations in a
frigate he proposed building, to make a present of to the
Empress, he told me, by way of ending the discussion,
that there might be twenty masts and one gun, if I
pleased." "Workmen and assistants, I am told to find
where I can, and on what terms I can. Ships of above 200
tons cannot be built here; their frames only can be prepared."

"The journey I have been making this spring with the
Prince, to me who do not think much of fatigue, has been

SHIP-BUILDIXG AT CRICHEFF. 77

in every respect highly agreeable. Independent of the
flattering manner in which he treated me, and the pleasure
which must arise from being witness to the steps taken
for the improvement of his Governments, I had not for
a long time spent my time so merrily."

" The news of the death of General Landskoy, and the
affliction of the Empress on that account, made the Prince
set out from Krementchuk with only one servant with
him, leaving us all to disperse from thence according to
our several destinations ; " so that Bentham was left to act
entirely according to his own discretion. In the same
letter he specifies the description of persons by whose
instrumentality he was to build ships. Common carpen-
ters and joiners were the only workers in wood to be found
on the estate; of rowers, for row boats, there was not one.
He had found at Krementchuk a young man from Stras-
burg who had been made teacher of mathematics at the
public school : " it is well if ever he has seen a ship
building, yet this is the person I have chosen as the best
qualified for assisting me in my present business, not for
any great knowledge he has of mechanics, but because he
seems capable of soon understanding anything, and pro-
mises to be much more assiduous than any other person
I could find : I have besides two or three Serjeants of
the army who draw and write, and who can work enough
themselves to be qualified for keeping the workmen to
their business ; these, with a Danish founder in brass
and an English watchmaker, are all I have been able
to pick up fit for ship-building." A notable set of dock-
yard officers and artificers, with whom to complete the
frames of 60 -gun frigates, in addition to the construc-
tion of sea-going ships of 200 tons ! " I have taken pos-
session of what is called the Prince's house, though it
is more like an old tottering barn with windows in
it ; what I can find of his I make use of, what else I
want I buy with his money ; what can be got to eat and

78 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEKTHAM.

drink I have, and I do the honours of the house as well as
J can to those who come to fare with me." It happened,
on that same da} 7 , that two ladies of rank did so on their
way to visit the nieces of the Prince. His fare was not
always of the most luxurious nature, that very day his
dinner had been bread and salted cucumbers.

The great disorder in which he found all the Prince's
factories at CrichefT, induced him to offer his services
for its correction. In a letter to the Prince, he con-
fidently spoke of his ability to restore the whole into
complete order, and to raise the factories to a degree of
perfection which might most easily be attained.

Prince Potemkin in reply entrusted him with unlimited
powers for the execution of his plans, and placed all his
officers under his control.

The particular factories thus placed under his manage-
ment were : —

1. A rope walk, where all the cordage was made for
Cherson.

2. A sail-cloth manufactory.

3. A distillery of spirit from corn, to which was annexed
a malt-house and beer brewery.

4. A tannery and leather manufactory.

5. Two glass houses, one of them more particularly for
window glass.

6. A manufactory for cutting and grinding glass.

7. A pottery, principally for making crucibles.

8. An establishment of smiths, coppersmiths, &c. for
making and repairing all the tools and utensils required in
the several fabrics.

To the letter giving these details he adds: "Besides
directing the above establishment with a view to in-
creasing, as much as possible, the profits to the Prince,
I must contrive, as much as may be, to ease the workmen
of the oppression they have of late been subject to."

MILITARY DUTIES. 79

Hitherto he had had the rank and the pay of a
Lieutenant-Colonel, but without being attached to any
regiment ; but in September he was given the command
of a battalion.

But at this time his operations were for several weeks at
a stand in consequence of severe illness. On taking the
command of his battalion he had to consider how, without
exhibiting his ignorance of military matters, he might best
learn the business of a soldier, and determined to instruct
himself by close attention to what had been former prac-
tice. In this view, when the major came to him for orders
as to the hour of parade, " The same as yesterday " was his
cautious reply. " How he chose this or that to be done."
es As usual ; it is not my intention to make unnecessary
innovations ;" and this, indeed, was truth. He soon ren-
dered himself master of his military duties, and very soon
perceived great need of amendment throughout the batta-
lion, amongst the officers particularly ; they were, many of
them, overbearing, rapacious, quarrelsome, some of them
incorrigibly so. " Morning after morning," he said, " I am
taken up chiefly with disputes amongst my officers : how-
ever, I am in hopes of getting rid of three or four of the
worst of them. Military decision I have not been able to
put on so soon as the uniform." But he soon took upon
himself the principal direction of the economy of the bat-
talion. He was strict in enforcing discipline, yet by his
gentleness and regard for the welfare of all ranks soon
made himself universally beloved. Passionately fond of
music himself, he wrote to England for a complete set of
military musical instruments and for an expert drummer ;
but at the same time the useful was not neglected, — an
experienced farrier was one of his commissions, as he had,
for military purposes, above 100 horses. His personal
attention to the health and comforts of the men were
constant ; at a future time, owing to his unusual expe-
dients, he preserved his men in comparative good health

80 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BBNTHAM.

during a very sickly season. One of the sanitary precau-
tions that he introduced at that time as a part of military
discipline, was that, at the daily parade, the surgeon should
pass from man to man, examining individually their
tongues. Out tongue ! may seem an out of the way word
of command, but the first symptom of the prevailing dis-
order was discoverable by the appearance of that member,
and when thus detected by the surgeon the afflicted man
was ordered instantly to the hospital, where in this early
stage of the disease rapid recovery of the patient was
almost general.

In the Prince's manufactories he introduced a great
variety of improvements, and of new objects of manufac-
ture, amongst them that of steel. He had already, at the
mines in Siberia, made experiments in the production of
this article ; he now turned them to profit. The only
steel to be procured at Cricheff was English, at the price
of a rouble, then four shillings, a pound ; iron cost there,
about three copecks — a penny a pound; the expense of
cementation less than twopence; thus obtaining a saving of
1500 per cent. He sent some of the tools made of his
steel to England, amongst others a chisel that he begged
might be tried by cutting off with it the end of a cold
poker, or even some piece of untempered steel. In the
glass house he experimented on a variety of different com-
positions ; by one of them, a new one, he made ciwstal
glass as bright as the best obtainable heretofore, which
could be sold at twelve and a half copecks a pound,
just half the former price. By the old process the ex-
penses of the glass house were usually greater than the
income from it, and never exceeded 600 roubles a year,
whereas by the new one as much was expected to be
cleared weekly, the profit being, even at the reduced
price, about 400 per cent. Many experiments were made
as to the fabrication of Eeaumur's porcelain, with the in-
tention of using this material as crucibles for melting glass.

IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIP-BUILDING. 81

Some of the specimens of the porcelain he produced were
hard enough to strike fire with steel, and brass was melted in
vessels of that composition, so well did it bear intense heat ;
and he suggested the use of this material for culinary vessels.

His chief occupation, however, was that of naval archi-
tecture, and the introduction of improvements in it. He
contrived and constructed vessels not exceeding 200 tons,
the largest that could be floated down the Dnieper ; pre-
pared the parts of larger ships, ready for putting together
at Cherson; contrived light vessels for river navigation,
which in use proved of double the speed of the best of
those hitherto constructed, also other vessels for floating
down timber.

In March 1785, he spent a week at Moscow, and as
general medical directions were much wanted at CricherT,
he prevailed on an English physician to accompany him
thither. He also added an English gardener (Aiton) and
his wife to his colony of emigrants. Before August he had
already built boats for exercisiDg men in rowing ; one of
those boats had forty oars, the men being placed in two
ranks in a mode of his invention. In a letter to his father
he says ; " I have now about one hundred rowers pretty
well trained. It is really surprising how quickly they
arrive at a certain degree of expertness at anything which
is required of them. They were all soldiers of my batta-
lion who built the boat, as well as those who navigate it ;
and I have not one man who has ever been to sea, or
worked at anything about ship, vessel, or boat, nor scarcely
any who had ever had an axe in their hand but to chop
fire-wood ; yet it is with these men, without any other
assistance than that of one English sailor, whom I have
for managing the rigging, that I am in hopes of making-
several improvements in the construction of vessels of
different kinds. The worst is that my business is so
various, and I have so few assistants on whom I can
have the least dependence, that I have too little time

G

82 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

to do anything so well as I wish, or as I see it might be
done."

In February 1786, he had the great satisfaction of
receiving his brother Jeremy Bentham at Cricheff, who
had made that long journey for the sole purpose of visiting
him. One of the works on which Samuel was now en-
gaged was the construction of a pleasure yacht. Prince
Potemkin, knowing how heavy the boats and vessels were,
that were preparing at the Admiralty to convey and attend
upon the Empress on her intended passage down the
Dnieper, induced Bentham to give a plan for a light
rowing yacht, which the Prince wished, he said, to be in
a new taste, and to outrow all others. He must have
accommodations for sleeping, &c, but he left the number
of oars and everything else to Bentham.

The vessel constructed in consequence was indeed novel.
It was 252 feet long, though its extreme breadth was but
16 feet 9 inches. It was planned so as to pass over shoals,
and therefore drew but four inches of water when light,
and six inches when loaded and with its 120 rowers
on board. That it might accommodate itself to the
numerous and sharp windings of Russian rivers, it con-
sisted of six separate boats, but so connected with each
other by a peculiar mechanism that no interval was left
between boat and boat greater than the diameter of a
small iron pin ; by this contrivance the vessel could twist
itself about as would a worm, and hence obtained the
name of the Vermicular. The rowers were placed in two
and part of the third of the head links, as also some of
them in the sixth : these men were seated, four and four
across the vessel, at two different heights, in such manner
that the stroke of no man could interfere with that of
another. The back part of the third link and the whole
of the fourth and fifth links were appropriated to habita-
tion, dining-room, with drawing-room, sleeping apartment
for the Empress, accommodations for her attendants, and

THE VERMICULAR. 83

many contrivances for convenience and comfort by making
use of space to the best advantage. The apartments,
though of a good walking height within, were kept down
to that of the rowers without, in order not to catch wind,
and there were many new inventions in the putting toge-
ther of the vessels with a view to strength, lightness, and
cheapness of construction. The third, fourth, and fifth
links being taken out, the remaining three formed a princely
rowing boat. This Vermicular was completed just in time,
it was hoped, to have received the Empress at Krement-
chuk, but, unfortunately, Bentham arrived in it at that
place, just two hours after her Majesty, tired of her heavy
boats, had left it to pursue her journey to the Crimea by
land ; but he received on board not only the English and
the French ambassadors, Mr. Fitzherbert, and the Count
de Segur, but also the Emperor Joseph II. Another barge
that accompanied the Vermicular on this occasion, as her
tender, was intended for navigation in the Black Sea. It
was also built of timber, on the same principle, and it
consisted of three links, and was provided with twenty-four
oars. Many other vessels of the same general construc-
tion were built for the convevance of timber and other
produce from the interior to Cherson, in some of which
vessels the links were connected by a very simple arrange-
ment of a cross cord, but so that they also could yield
easily to the windings so frequently encountered.

The mischiefs which resulted in the manufactories
over which Bentham presided from want of due inspec-
tion, led him to reflect on the means by which it might
be more perfectly obtained, especially in establishments
where the number of efficient superintendents was so very
limited as at Cricheff. The result was the invention of
a building so contrived as that the whole of the operations
carried on in it should be under observation from its centre.
This invention has of late been called the principle of central
observation. No allusion whatever has of late years been

G 2

84 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

made to its inventor. In the " Encyclopaedia Britannica " it
is attributed to Jeremy Bentham, though in his letter to
his father, published in his works, he (Jeremy) distinctly
and repeatedly speaks of it as the invention of his brother.
The letter is in the third volume of Jeremy Bentham's
works, and in it are specified many uses to which buildings
on this principle would be peculiarly applicable.

When he had made shipwrights and sailors of a con-
siderable part of the men of his battalion, it was ordered
to the south in the year 1787. He had himself been pre-
viously ordered to Cherson to direct the fitting out of a
flotilla to oppose the Turks, who had lately commenced
hostilities, no preparations for such an event having
been made by Eussia. On this occasion Jeremy Bentham
was left at Cricheff. His brother, in writing to him from
Cherson, in September 1787, says : "I am here at present
by an order from Greneral SouvarofT, Commander-in-chief,
in consequence of MarduinofPs acquainting him that he
had need of my assistance at this critical time." The assis-
tance required was that of devising means of creating a
flotilla of vessels of war, the materials for which were the
pleasure galleys in which the Empress had descended the
Dnieper, a few hoys and transports, " the strongest of
which, according to professional practice, was not capable
of carrying anything larger than a 3 -pounder." His inti-
mate friend, Admiral MardvinofY, was his only superior,
and it happened that at the most critical time Prince
Potemkin called away the Admiral, leaving Bentham in
sole command of the Admiralty department and the entire
disposal of the naval force at Cherson.

His inventive genius and his powers of making the
most of materials at hand were here put to the test, and
they failed him not. In some of the barques he put 36-
pounder long guns : the breadth of the vessel not being suf-
ficient for the recoil of such ordnance, if opposite to
one another, he placed them so that those on the one side

NAVAL COMMAND AT CHERSOX. 85

should be opposite the intervals between those on the other ;
in men-of-war's long boats, and such like, he put in some 48-
pounder howitzers, in others 13-inch mortars. Weak as
was the miserable craft which he had to operate upon he
strengthened it sufficiently by a small addition of support
to the decks.

In the spring of 1788, when this flotilla was to be
put to sea, he was to have commanded it, but was for
a considerable time laid up completely with a severe
attack of ague, and a consequent extreme debility. In
the commencement of his convalesence, he was wholly in-
capable of application to any kind of even light reading or
any other employment.

When at length his health was restored, and the flotilla
about to be put to sea, Prince Nassau came to Cherson,
bringing orders that he should be employed where he
might distinguish himself as a volunteer. Prince
Potemkin accordingly gave him the command in chief of
the flotilla, at the same time requesting Lieutenant-Colonel
Bentham to be the officer next in command. The Prince
wished Bentham to change from the land to the sea-service ;
this he refused, though an advance in rank was offered him ;
but he consented, though continuing in the land service,
to be employed in the flotilla as long as his services might
be deemed necessary.

The flotilla, that had been patched up of every thing at
Cherson that could float, was so despicable in the eyes of
the enemy, that they deigned only to dispatch their small
vessels against it, with orders to destroy it in their way to
Otchakoff, the object of their expedition. But in a first
engagement, 7th June, 1788, they suffered so much, that
they ceased to think how easy it would be to destroy this
shabby flotilla, and resolved to attack it with their whole
naval force. This they did on the 16th of June, the Tur-
kish fleet then consisting of ninety-six men of war, besides
small vessels ; the Eussian flotilla not of half the number,

o 3

86 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTIIAM.

including fifteen or sixteen long boats. Paul Jones had a
squadron of ships lying off OtchakofF, in the intervals of
which the vessels of the flotilla were ranged in line on the
17th, when one of Paul's armed merchantmen, having
been struck by a bomb from OtchakofF, presently sank ; on
which his squadron one by one came to anchor, and left
the flotilla to shift for itself. Two of the enemy's ships
were soon seen to have got on shore. The flotilla passed
by them to follow after the rest of the Turkish vessels ;
they retreated as fast as they could out to sea, and got
close in under cover of OtchakofF. In the action of the 7th
one of the guns on board Bentham's vessel had burst,
killing two men, and wounding seven. He was standing

O ? O CD

behind it at the time to aim it himself, j^et, though not a
yard from the breech, he escaped with no other injury
than singed hair and an eyebrow scorched off. This had
made him apprehensive of his own guns, so that on the
17th, he at first fired only out of a 13-inch brass mortar,
" till spirited on by success, I approached by degrees, and
tried again our guns on the poor unfortunate ships; al-
though forsaken by all the fleet, these two defended them-
selves till the fire caught in different parts ; yet some few
obstinate fellows kept firing although the colours were
struck, and many prisoners taken out." The vessels were
completely destroyed by the fire of the bombs and shells
that had been thrown into them, which added not a
little to the dismay of the Turks, whilst it encouraged the
Russians.

On the 18th, at daybreak, the Turks were again in line,
" and our flotilla was below Paul Jones's squadron, which
we relied upon no more for assistance." Bent ham, on rising
in the morning, perceived that some of the Turkish ships
of the line were aground, and communicated the intelli-
gence to Prince Nassau. The signal for enefajrina: was
immediately made, but as there was not wind enough to
blow out the flag, a boat was sent round to give orders :

ENGAGEMENTS WITH THE TURKISH FLEET. 87

" I, therefore, receiving the orders first, set sail and called
to all I came near to follow me. We had about as much
discipline in our manoeuvres as a London mob ; however,
we advanced, as many of us as chose, immediately, and the
rest by degrees." Bentham placed himself close on the
quarter of the largest of the enemy's ships, and remained
in action for two hours, exposed not only to fire from the
great guns and musketry of the ships, but also to the still
more dangerous fire from the guns of the town. " The
bomb-shells and shot from those fell round me in a quan-
tity that surprised me much that they did not hit me ; 'tis
true they were random shot, and came from a distance."
The enemy's ship surrendered ; boats were sent to take
possession, when the battle re-commenced, till at length
they finally submitted. Part of the flotilla was at the
same time engaged with other vessels of the enemy.
Bentham took fifty-six prisoners on board his own vessel :
about 3000 were saved altogether, out of eleven ships
taken or destroyed in this and the former engagements ;
but many more men perished, as three or four of the larg-
est ships were burnt and blown up without a possibility
of saving many of the crew. " I kept seven of the officer-
prisoners on board my vessel for about a week ; during
which time the making their situation tolerably comfort-
able was perhaps as great a pleasure as I ever felt."
Prince Potemkin afterwards took them, as well as all the
other officers, to head-quarters, where they were well taken
care of. Of the Eussians very few men were lost on that
day, and no vessel but a rowing boat, which was sunk.
The ship which Bentham engaged was saved. She had
been built for sixty guns, and was fitted out for Eussian
service immediately • after she was taken. Seven other
ships of the line which the Turks lost on that day were
all burnt, and one was sunk. They were not purposely
destroyed, but as all the vessels of the Eussian flotilla were
furnished with shells like bomb-shells or others filled with

G 4

83 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

combustibles to be used instead of shot, there was no
avoiding the burning of auy vessel into which they were
fired. The remaining vessels of the large Turkish fleet
were driven entirely out to sea.

Prince Potemkin, as may be imagined, was trausported
with the success of the flotilla ; all on board of it were
advanced a rank : Bentham received a special reward for
each of the three days' engagements — the military order
of St. Greorge, advance of rank to that of full colonel,
and a gold hilted sword of honour — the regiment to
which Bentham was appointed, being one of the best
regiments of infantry, and the most complete, consisting
of 2,472, including all ranks.

A victory so complete would be thought remarkable
under any circumstances, but in this case there were many
points that claim particular attention. In the first place
this flotilla would never have triumphed had the usual
routine of naval armament been adhered to ; that is, had 3 or
4-pounders only been placed where Bentham fired pieces of
30 or 40; or had those pieces been fired in the usual manner,
instead of many of them in his new modes, — without re-
coil, or if to recoil that one piece should draw out the other
— by both which modes unexampled rapidity of firing was
obtained ; besides which advantage there was the further
one, of his having caused all the ordnance to be supplied
with either shells or shot of a kind to produce combustion.
"We have next to remark the efficacy of small vessels when
opposed to large ones in shallow water. That those of
little draught have the power of manoeuvring at will, where
deeper ones are liable to take the ground, is obvious ; but
besides that advantage, there is the further one that a
small object, presenting but little surface to the enemy,
escapes the aim which would take effect on a larger body.
But even these were not the only peculiarities of this
successful flotilla, for with the exception of half-a-dozen
seamen, it was manned only by soldiers and landsmen,

SUCCESS OF THE FLOTILLA. 89

scarcely any of whom had ever fired a gun before the
attack on the enemy began. Several of the vessels were
even commanded by officers of the land service, who were
totally unacquainted with naval affairs. Amongst these
was Lieutenant-Colonel Fanshawe, afterwards Governor-
(xeneral of the Crimea. In reverting afterwards to the
signal success of this flotilla, Bentham said, however " I
could not but feel that, in point of fact, the success had
resulted far more from the manner in which that flotilla
was armed, than from any extraordinary skill or bravery
on the part of the combatants."

Among the half-dozen seamen, most of whom were
English, there was one in particular (Eichard Upsal) who
came to Bentham at Cherson, having heard that (i there
was likely to be some fun with the Turks," and begged to
be engaged to partake of it — his services were accepted,
and very eminent they proved to be. During the last
engagement he observed that a firebrand had fallen into
the magazine. With the coolness and promptitude of an
English blue jacket, he followed the flaming log, brought
it up on deck, and quietly threw it into the sea.

While Bentham was engaged in the outfit of the flotilla,
inducements were held out by Government in hopes that
private persons would fit out privateers, but as none were
found willing to embark capital in such a speculation, he
joined with his friend Admiral MardvinofT and two other
persons in fitting out a privateer. The command of it
was given to one Lambro', always called Major Lambro'.
This man proved eminently successful in taking Turkish
vessels, becoming master of twenty-two sail. Such as were
suitable he armed ; thus forming a little squadron, with
which he even took • fortified islands. In May 1790, his
squadron being increased to nine vessels, he attacked a
Turkish fleet of eighteen, but the latter being joined by
seven Algerine xebecs, they proved too much for Lambro'.
On this he burnt his own frigate, and two or three others

90 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

of his squadron. Though wounded, yet he escaped in a
small vessel, which, with two or three others, was all that
he saved ; so that the subscribers reaped no profit from
their venture.

Shortly after the signal defeat of the Turkish fleet,
Prince Nassau, partly through ennui, fell ill, and found it
more convenient to live on shore in his tent than on board
his vessel; on which occasion he issued the following
" order :"

" To Lieutenant- Colonel Bentham. — During my absence, I en-
trust to you, as the senior officer under me, the command of the
whole of the flotilla under my orders."

It was contrary to all order, and, indeed, letter of the
law, that an officer in the army should command officers of
the navy. Still Bentham feared that some pretext or other
would be found for continuing him in the sea service, but
on the receipt of that order, the white coats made a strong
representation of the injury done them by putting them
under a green coat ; so that the next day there came out an
order from Prince Potemkin for all colonels to join their
respective regiments. On detailing many of the above
particulars to his father, Bentham observed that " fighting
for once in a way was well enough, but it is an abominable
trade to follow" and that in case of peace he should be
much tempted to ask to change his regiment for one of
cavalry in Siberia. This desire of his, which he had men-
tioned to all his acquaintance, came to the ears of Prince
Potemkin, who asked if he really desired such a change ;
Bentham reminded him of the preference which he had, on
many former occasions, expressed for that part of the empire,
and that now there was no part of it which he would not
quit for Siberia, where he had prospects of rendering his
services most useful. The Prince immediately acquiesced
in his views, gave him a regiment of cavalry on the fron-
tiers, and placed in his regiment several officers who wished

EXCURSIONS AMONG THE KIRGEES. 91

to go with him, furnishing money to pay for post horses for
their conveyance.

After Bentham's early exploration of Siberia, he had,
on his return to St. Petersburg, spoken to Prince Potem-
kin of the great capabilities of the River Amoor for naviga-
tion, and for the carrying on of an extensive fur trade with
China, Kamschatka, and the northern coast of America.
The Prince had then wished him to communicate his ideas
on the subject to the Empress, and had been dissatisfied
that in his audiences a preference had been given to the
state of the mines. The Prince now reminded him of this,
saying a great deal about Kamschatka and the profits
derivable from the fur trade there. Bentham, with a view
to trading on the American coast, now obtained permission
for four of the English seamen who had served with him
in the flotilla, to be placed in his regiment, two of them as
ensigns, the two others as second lieutenants.

The Colonel gave up his regiment of Raijsk in due form,
then repaired to his new command in Siberia. One of his
battalions occupied a line of (so-called) fortresses on the
Kirgees' frontier, from Tchernovitch to Simiarsk ; his other
battalion was on the Chinese frontier, to the south of Lake
Baikal; these battalions being about 1200 miles one
from the other. He was not of a disposition to take his
ease on visiting them, by travelling in the ordinary way
along a beaten road, especially when there was beside
it a vast extent of country unknown and unexplored. By
diversifying his way, he would have to pass many rivers,
over which there were no bridges, not to speak of other
less essential conveniences, which would be found on the
ordinary route. He therefore caused two carriages of the
amphibious kind to be constructed, more simple than his
former one, and built of the materials which the place
afforded.

Besides journeys in the interior of the country on his
way from one of his battalions to the other, he, in 1789,

92 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

made an excursion amongst his neighbours the Kirgees.
He had leave from his general at Omsk to go amongst
them to the distance of fifty versts, but he extended his
journey so as to travel no less than 1200 versts in their
country. He described the Kirgees as being at that time
peaceable, doing no other mischief than sometimes stealing
a few cattle, and now and then a man or two. He spent
about five weeks amongst the Kirgees ; had regular audi-
ence of their Sultan, and was altogether well pleased with
their conduct and general disposition. He was the first
European of any note who had been amongst them. No
map, or chart, or any geographical description of their coun-
try then existed, but he drew a map of that part of it
through which he passed as accurately as circumstances
permitted. On his subsequent return to England that map
was inserted by Major Kennel in his delineation of that
part of the world. It had not, however, been easy for
Bentham to ascertain his route. Measurements on obser-
vations made with instruments he had reason to suppose
would not be tolerated, but he contrived a projecting knob
on one wheel of his carriage, which knob, on passing over
ground was pressed inward, and acted on an apparatus for
noting the number of revolutions made by the wheel. It
had been vaguely reported that silver and gold as well as
copper mines existed in the Kirgees' country ; to ascertain
this was one chief object of this excursion, but the journal
which he kept of it, and which he sent to England, is no-
where to be found. Its loss is the more to be regretted as
the fulness with which it had been written had prevented
his entering into details in letters.

On the many journeys made in the amphibious carriages,
the willing obedience of the peasant drivers and their firm
reliance on their superiors were remarkable. While travel-
ling with the horses of the country, the carriage was not
stopped on coming to broad and even rapid rivers, but the
peasant driver was directed to continue his course across

EXPLORATIONS IN THE TTHITE SEA. 93

them. On such occasions the peasants gave a wondering
glance at their temporary master, then one of confidence
in his superior knowledge, crossed themselves, drove down
the bank and onwards across the stream ; the horses
swam, the boat-built carriage floated, its inmates guided it,
and on the opposite bank the land journey was resumed
all safe and dry, the peasant again crossing himself with a
slava Boghi! (thank God).

During the summer he sent an expedition to examine
the mouth of the River Ob, and a small part of the adja-
cent coast of the White Sea, with a view to the attempting
a passage by sea to Archangel for mercantile purposes.
He did not conceive that any doubt could exist of its prac-
ticability at certain times. The doubt was as to the
degree of danger and delay which might be expected from
drifts of ice which, even in summer, were brought by
certain winds, so as to intercept navigation on the coast
completely. Part of the men returned during the same
summer, bringing a chart of the sea and part of the gulf.
In consequence of the information thus obtained, the
Colonel took to Tobolsk an officer of his regiment and fifty
men, that they might build during the winter a seaworthy
vessel, to be afterwards sent to the mouth of the Ob for
the service of the men who had been left there.

The English sailor (Richard Upsal), who had been taken
into the service at Cherson, was also on this service. He
had been much better educated than those of his calling
usually are, and in every respect was superior to the
general run of seamen. He had attained the rank of
Major. During the expedition near the mouth of the Ob,
the party fell in with a tribe of natives who were wholly
unacquainted with fire. At the same place the party
found coal lying on the very surface of the ground, with
which they made a fire, and thus taught the natives its use,
it may be presumed, greatly to their future comfort. Maj or
Upsal, after his return to England, frequently recurred to

94 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BBNTHAM.

this discovery, saying that one of the greatest pleasures
which he had experienced was that of having afforded
these poor, half-frozen people the means of obtaining
fire.

The Colonel also, at his own expense, afforded funds to
a party of English sailors for building and fitting out some
vessels at Kamschatka, from thence to explore the opposite
north-west coast of America. He commissioned them, if
practicable, to carry on a trade in furs, which promised to
be very profitable. This was in conformity with views
which he had for many years entertained, and which had
particularly attracted Prince Potemkin's attention. No-
thing more than vague reports were heard of this expedi-
tion till the year 1808. At that time one of the English-
men returned home, and came to his former colonel to
render some account of himself, his companions, and their
doings. Unfortunately he was not the most literate of the
set, but it was collected from him that the vessels had been
built, that they made good their landing in America, con-
structed a wooden fort on its coast, and carried on from
thence a trade in fur, successfully and profitably. No spe-
cific dates could be obtained from this man, nor any indi-
cation of the precise site of their fort, but it is supposed
that this, in point of fact, was the first Eussian establish-
ment on the American continent.

Nor did he neglect the exploring many interesting parts
of Siberia, or the trade that might be carried on there. In
a letter from the late Chamberlain Clarke to his father,
some particulars as to the colonel's health and whereabouts
were given, as obtained from Mr. Love, who had com-
manded one of the vessels of the flotilla, and who had, in
February 1790, seen " a Major Newton, who was charged
with Sir Samuel's account of his discoveries to the Em-
press at St. Petersburg. The major had left Sir Samuel
in good health, vigorously prosecuting a commercial in-
tercourse between Kussia and China." And this is all

KETURX TO EXGLAXD. 95

that is here known of those discoveries, as no copy has
been found of the account w r hich the Colonel gave of them
to the Empress.

Notwithstanding these occupations, he failed not during
the whole time of his command to bestow a regular atten-
tion on the discipline, well being, and improvement of his
regiment. He established a school on the borders of China,
for both men and boys of the battalion stationed there, on
the principal of mutual instruction. There still exist
specimens of writing by boys in that school, w T hich, not-
withstanding the short period of instruction, would do
credit to pupils of the best organised school in any country.
When he had thus set on foot many improvements in
the discipline of his regiment, as well as laid the foun-
dation for the better instruction of the men, having
explored a great portion of country hitherto scarcely
known, and done much towards the establishment of a
lucrative trade on a scale more extensive than heretofore
with China, and of a new trade with America, his never
ceasing longings to revisit home, and those that w 7 ere dear
to him at home, made him avail himself of a leave of
absence accorded by Prince Potemkin to set out on his
return to England.

He had found the remote, and in part uncivilised,
Siberia to be a country rich in natural productions ; the
people in towns (especially at Tobolsk) of highly culti-
vated minds and manners — a society peculiarly agreeable
as being free from the restraints imposed upon it near the
seat of Government. The country itself w'as in many
parts picturesque and agreeable; in some of its wildest
parts, east of Nijni Taghil, resembling an English gentle-
man's park, in other parts producing wild fruits in such pro-
fusion that his soldiers in the strawberry season were sent
out to gather these delicious berries by pailsful. South
of Lake Baikal the tenderest European fruits, as apricots,
arrive at great perfection, and game of many kinds every-

96 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

where abound. True, on some wandering excursions food
of any kind was scarcely found ; but Siberia was ever after
in his thought a kind of terrestrial paradise.

He happened to pass through Paris just at the time of
the first revolution, when his friends the Duke de
Eichelieu, Dumas, the Count de Segur, and many others
whom he had known in Eussia, were still allowed to retain
their rank and many of their privileges. He was furnished
with a billet of entrance to the National Assembly, on the
last occasion when Count de Segur had power to give him
one, and was with the Duke de Eichelieu in his box at the
opera the last time that his Grace enjoyed it.

On his arrival in England he had the happiness to
find his father, step-mother, and brother well. His
half brother Farr Abbott had married and had purchased
a kind of sinecure place. Charles had already began to
distinguish himself in that political career in which his
legal knowledge and sound judgment led to his well-
known future eminence.

JOURNEY THROUGH ENGLAND. 97

CHAP. VI.

Journey through the Manufacturing Districts of England, 1791 — Classifi-
cation of Mechanical Works — Death of his Father — Prison Archi-
tecture — Mechanical Inventions and Improvements — He is commissioned
by the Admiralty to visit the Naval Dockyards — Resigns the Russian
Service — Report on Portsmouth Dockyard, 1795 — Improvements and
Alterations in the Dockyard — He is ordered to build seven Vessels on
his own Plans — Changes introduced in their Construction — Appointed
Inspector-General of Naval Works — The Appointment sanctioned by
the King in Council, March, 1796 — Increased Calibre of Guns on
Shipboard.

A life of idleness could never be one of enjoyment to
Bentham. He longed to inform himself of what progress
had been made since he left England in manufacturing
arts, especially by the introduction of machinery. For
this purpose, in the year 1791, he made a tour through
the principal manufacturing parts of England. To his
surprise he found that little advance had been made
towards substituting the invariable accuracy of machinery
for the uncertain dexterity of the hand of man. For steam
power was then only employed for manufacturing cotton,
rolling metals, and for some few other purposes, such as
for pumping up of water. For the working of wood, though
for ten years back he had written to his friends in England
of his invention of planing and other machines, yet, so far
as he could learn, no machinery had been introduced
beyond the common turning lathe, and also some saws
and a few boring tools used in the making of blocks for
the navy. Even saws worked by inanimate force for

H

98 LIFE OF SIE SAMUEL BENTHAM.

slitting timber, though in extensive use in foreign coun-
tries, were nowhere to be found in Great Britain.

This poverty of the inventive faculty stimulated him to
the exertion of his own powers, and he applied himself
to the extension and improvement of the wood-working
machinery, which he had so many years before contrived
in Eussia. The logical turn of his mind led him to
a conclusion that the artificial, but common classification
of works according to trades or handicrafts, without
regard to similarity or dissimilarity of operations, could
not but be productive of a variety of inconveniences,
even according to usual practice, and that it stood par-
ticularly in the way when the object was the contri-
vance of a good system of machinery. He therefore
began by classing the several operations requisite in the
shaping and working up of materials of whatever kind,
wholly disregarding the customary artificial arrangement
according to trades. When the operations had thus been
classed, he next proceeded to the contrivance of machines
by which they might be performed, and that, independently
of the need for skill or manual dexterity in the workman.

His father had lately died, so that his brother Jeremy
had come into possession of the house and extensive pre-
mises in Queen-square Place, Westminster. Mr. Bentham,
fully impressed with the importance of his brother's
inventions, gave up his outhouses as workshops where
machines of kinds contrived by his brother Samuel might
be executed of full size, and was about eno-asfing for a
steam engine to give them motion, when a new turn was
given to their application. Prison discipline was at that
period a subject of general interest, and Grovernment
manifested a wish to effect the improvements which might
be effectually carried out in a Panopticon building. Jeremy
Bentham, who describes the advantages of this construction
in his letters, was therefore induced to listen to terms
for undertaking the management of a panopticon for the

PRISON ARCHITECTURE. 99

reception of 1000 prisoners (Government wished it to be
for 1500). He depended on his brother Samuel for the
contrivance of such machines and engines as might be
profitably worked by unskilled hands (the intended pri-
soners). An extension of leave of absence from Russia was
obtained for the Colonel, who proceeded not only to de-
vise, but to have executed of full size, working machines
for planing, sawing in curved, winding, and transverse
directions, including an apparatus for preparing all the
parts of a highly finished window sash, another for an
ornamented carriage wheel, for none of which operations
was either skill or manual dexterity of the workman
necessary. Patents were taken for these several machines
26th November 1791, and 3rd April 1793: the speci-
fication of the latter is said to be the most complete
treatise that has yet appeared on the subject of working
wood, metals, and other materials.

In conformity with the views of Government, the con-
trivance of a panopticon prison of the requisite extent
became necessary, and the Colonel undertook the task.
In addition to such a central building as that which he
had erected at CrichefT, he joined to it long, straight
buildings to furnish appropriate accommodation for the
prisoners, and for the great extent of space requisite for the
machinery for their employment ; and a young architect,
Mr. Samuel Bunce, was engaged to make drawings of both
building and machinery, but the one and the other were so
wholly different from former examples, that the contrivance
of all the parts rested with the Colonel. The building too
he designed to be fire-proof, as far as any structure could
be made so. Wood he determined should form no part of
it, excepting for floor; brick-work and iron were the only
materials. According to drawings which still remain, the
basement story was of brick-work arched over each compart-
ment; the walls and divisions of the other stories, generally
speaking, of brick-work also ; but iron, cast and wrought,

H 2

100 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

was introduced wherever wood was usually employed in a
building. The window frames and sashes were of cast
iron, but so designed that, whilst they afforded security
superior to that obtained by the customary prison bars, his
windows bore no appearance of restraint. Jeremy Bentham,
in his letter of 1786, had spoken of solitary confinement,
but Samuel was averse to it, excepting as a harmless
means of temporary punishment of the unruly, or, for a
longer period, of the refractory. It appeared to his mind
that employment under the least possible apparent re-
straint seemed the most likely mode of reclaiming the less
vicious of the felons, as probably those also of a more
hardened character. The brothers together had deter-
mined on allowing prisoners a proportion of their earnings
in hand, a larger portion to be laid up in store as a
fund with which to begin the world at the end of their
incarceration; also, in cases where the liberated might
prefer it, it was intended to give them still employment,
though at a somewhat lower rate of pay than the usual
one to free labour.

The general design of the panopticon having been fixed
on, and the due proportion of its several parts for strength
ascertained, a model of the central part was made; this
and the machinery at work, became (as Mr. Bentham
called it) a raree-show ; but it was not opened to the idle
or the ignorant. Numberless persons of rank, of science,
and of manufacturing intelligence, almost daily obtained
an introduction to see the wonders at Queen-square Place.
So well satisfied were all of the national advantages that
would be derived from the use of that system of machinery,
that it became the subject of notice in the House of
Commons, where it was generally eulogised, but more
particularly by Mr. Dundas, afterwards Lord Melville.

During these first years of his return to England it may
well be believed that, with workmen on the spot, he had
caused various minor inventions to be introduced at Queen-

MECHANICAL INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS. IOl

square Place ; such, for instance, as hollow tubes of metal
for articles which had before been made solid. The fire
irons which he thus had made were particularly light and
pleasant in use ; speaking tubes were fixed in the interior
of the house, through which orders to servants might be
communicated without calling them from a present employ;
but the pursuance of an early idea now received much
of his attention. He had conceived, even during the time of
his apprenticeship, that many chemical and manufacturing
effects might be better produced, and more economically
also, in vacuo, than by the usual modes of operation.
Much of his time and many of his thoughts were occupied
for more than a twelvemonth in directing experiments
that were made in a receiver exhausted by a common air-
pump, but the receiver and connected apparatus he adapted
to the several operations to be performed. The experi-
ments, it is true, were made on a small scale, but they were
sufficient to exhibit the soundness of his opinions on the
subject, and to enable him to take a patent for the inven-
tions. Amongst the experiments, distillation was carried
on with a much less expenditure of heat than usual.
Leather was tanned through the substance of the hide in
the course of a few hours, the passage of the tanning
liquid through it being repeated a sufficient number of
times to ensure perfect combination of the tanning prin-
ciple with the hide. A variety of substances were dyed in
grain, leather and wood included. Wood was impregnated
through its substance with a variety of salts known to be
preservatives of timber, such as the sulphates of copper,
iron, and zinc, as also alum and corrosive sublimate.
Meat was salted, smoked, dried, and flavoured. Generally
speaking, in whatever cases the presence of air impedes or
resists the entrance of a liquid, impregnation was effected
in vacuo with entire success. After the patent was taken, a
friend made the first use of it in a cotton- weaving factory;
this was to impregnate the cops of cotton with soapsuds.

H 3

H)2 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

The naval business of the British Government in its civil
branch was that for which General Bentham had always
entertained the strongest predilection. Communication
with the Admiralty with the object of improving that
business was therefore willingly acceded to. His represen-
tations of the advantages which could not fail to result in
the naval arsenals from the introduction of machinery, and
from the use of steam engines to give it motion, were
convincing to the Lords of the Admiralty, who, in the
course of several interviews, expressed their approbation of
various other improvements suggested. Early in 1795
they arranged that he should address them officially by
a letter, in which should be mentioned several particulars
in reference to their intercourse with him, and that in
conformity with the desire which they had intimated that
he should visit his Majesty's dockyards, he should make
an offer to do so. Accordingly, on the 21st April 1795,
he addressed such a letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty,
in which he mentioned that he had still leave of absence
from the Empress of Eussia to the following September.
The next day, 22nd April, he received a letter, which
authorised him to visit his Majesty's dockyards for the
purpose of suggesting improvements in them, and ac-
quainted him that the Lords of the Admiralty had given
instructions to the Navy Board "to order the several
officers to permit his free admission to the said dockyards,"
and " to furnish him with such information and assistance
as he might stand in need of."

The authority thus given to him, the flattering approval
of his ideas in private conversation, the desire repeatedly
expressed that it might be possible to retain him in the
service of his country, with the prospects that naturally
flowed from this state of things (to use his own words),
"led to the relinquishing his intentions of returning to
Eussia," and he shortly afterwards abandoned the emolu-
ments, the gift of lands, the honours that awaited him in

WORKS IN" PORTSMOUTH DOCKYARD. 103

a foreign country, and devoted himself entirely to the
service of his own.

He has been much and repeatedly blamed by his friends
for this decision. The rank, the wealth, the honours in pos-
session and in prospect which he thus gave up in Russia,
far exceeded the utmost that was promised him in Eng-
land. His friends affirmed that he abandoned a host of
Russian friends ready to do him every service and a society
such as could not but render life most pleasurable. This
was all strictly true ; but he also had friends in England,
and above all the improvement of the naval service of his
own country had been the object of his ambition from
his boyhood. His letters remain to prove that at times
of his greatest hopes in Russia, and when he was enjoy-
ing the greatest honours there, naval improvement in his
own country was still with him the paramount thought.

Brigadier-Greneral Eentham, though still retaining his
foreign rank, may from this time be considered as exclu-
sively in the English service and devoted to it heart and
mind.

His first visit under the authority of the Admiralty was
to Portsmouth dockyard, on which he made his report
dated 29th May 1795.

The benefits that have resulted from his intervention
can only be appreciated by a survey of his many services.
It will consequently be essential, in noticing the most
important of them, to enter into details sometimes of
a purely technical nature. But so rapidly of late has
science advanced, that those technicalities are now likely
to be comprehended and even read with that degree of
interest which the civil concerns of the navy now excite,
where true economy, is the object in view. Throughout
the whole of the General's English service, it will be
seen that his main endeavour was to produce effects not
only more perfectly but at a less cost than before ; so that
his suggestions of improvement, if brought to the severest

H 4

104 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

test of arithmetical calculation, would be seen to involve a
lessening of expenditure.

A plan which involved very costly masonry works in
Portsmouth dockyard had been ordered to be carried into
execution previously to his visit in 1795. In his report
he objected to many of those works as being of little use
in comparison with their cost. One of them was a double
dock, which was necessarily more costly than two single
ones, use being taken into account, because a ship in the
upper dock must remain there after it was finished, till the
work required to the vessel in the lower dock was completed
likewise. He objected to the costly repairs that were being
carried on in the basin without making any enlargement
of it, although by its extension the expense of additional
work would be little compared to the increased accommo-
dation which it would afford. He also objected to the
jetties as proposed, because as they were planned they
would not afford means of docking and undocking the
number of ships that might have to be moved in a tide.
In place of those works objected to, he proposed an
enlargement of the basin, two single docks, an ar-
rangement of the jetties which would afford means of
moving the greatest number of ships which would be taken
in or out of the enlarged basin in a tide. His proposals
were adopted, and the works were subsequently executed
according to his plans. Portsmouth dockyard was thus
rendered pre-eminently suited (and was universally ac-
knowledged to be so) for the most important business of
that port in times of war, namely, the graving of ships of
the line ; that is, examining their bottoms and executing
trifling repairs to them.

The effect of these improvements was not confined to
the advantage of enabling a greater number of vessels to
be forwarded at one time. That was in fact but a second-
ary consideration. He had in early life witnessed the
gross abuses, the embezzlement of materials, the extra

WORKS IN ROYAL DOCKYARDS. 105

cost and inferiority of all workmanship when repairs of
ships were executed afloat as it was termed, that is, when
they were lying at moorings in a harbour or at a road-
stead. He now saw that the same mischiefs still continued
— artificers lost much time in rowing backwards and
forwards to their work, and they were frequently paid
extra wages under some concealed form. Materials were
stolen or embezzled to a large amount in taking them to
ships afloat ; and want of supervision induced indolence
and carelessness in the artificers. To remedy these evils,
by enabling repairs to be carried on in a great number of
ships at one time within the precincts of the dockyard, was
a chief object; and by his proposed arrangements no less
than twelve ships of the line, besides smaller vessels, could
be repaired, fitted, and stored within the boundary of
Portsmouth dockyard at one and the same time.

Various other works that had been projected (some of
them already commenced) were in like manner objected
to, and other works proposed in their place both in Ports-
mouth and Plymouth yards. Those to which he objected
were discontinued by Admiralty orders ; several of those
which he proposed were ordered for execution ; others
remained for longer or shorter times under their Lordships'
consideration, but no one of them was finally rejected.

It is not easy to determine the manner in which General
Bentham's improvements in our naval establishments
can best be represented. They were so numerous, and
of such different natures, extending to civil engineering,
architectural, mechanical, naval architecture, ordnance,
detection of abuses, with the remedies for them, and the
general management of the civil business of the depart-
ment. But the simplest way of giving a clear and com-
prehensive view of them appears to be by taking them
generally in the order of their dates, though occasionally
pursuing the same subject at once to its completion.

In noticing the several services in which General

106 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

Bentham was from this time engaged by the Admiralty, use
will be made of an official register of correspondence, also
authenticated copies of that correspondence. In regard
to private communications with First Lords of the Admi-
ralty and others in authority, a journal will be consulted
which was commenced towards the end of the year 1796 :
it was written by a person to whom he related matters
which he wished to be noted, and he always himself looked
over that journal, causing it to be corrected on the few
occasions where the statement had not been strictly
accurate.

The correspondence first noticed relates to the construc-
tion of certain vessels of war. In intercourse with Earl
Spencer, Sir Hugh Seymour, and other Lords of the Ad-
miralty, as also with the Comptroller of the Navy, he had
given many particulars as to the usual mode of construction
in naval architecture, which demonstrated a great want of
attention to mechanical principles ; that, in consequence,
ships were more costly than they ought to be, and, what
was of still more importance, they were weak. In con-
sequence of these observations and the facts adduced in
support of them, members of the Admiralty Board informed
themselves more particularly as to his ideas of naval archi-
tecture, and the Board authorised him to have constructed
seven small vessels, uncontrolled by any naval board or
dockyard officer, upon his own individual responsibility.
These vessels were two sloops of war, named the Arrow
and the Dart; four war schooners, the Nelly, Eling,
Kedbridge, and Millbrook, and a vessel planned to
carry water in bulk for the supply of ships at sea ; thus
precluding the need of coming into port for water, the
most frequent cause of the return of large vessels from
their stations.

The chief objects he had in view in planning these
vessels were their strength, their durability, their effi-
ciency, diminution of first cost and subsequent wear and

EXPERIMENTAL VESSELS. 107

tear, and they differed materially in exterior form from
the universal build. They were much longer than others
in proportion to breadth, and much sharper also : similar
proportions were first adopted in some of the early fast-
going steamers, and since that time very generally in all
vessels whether for war or traffic. The experimental ves-
sels raked forward like a Thames wherry: the topsides,
instead of retiring inwards at the upper part, were con-
tinued outwards to the upper edge. The Great Britain
has since been similarly built in this respect. By this
new form vessels are better supported when pitching
and rolling in a sea, than others where the sides retire
inwards above the water-line.

Oak for ship-building was at that time particularly
scarce and dear: it therefore became of importance to
exhibit the parts of a vessel in which other kinds of wood
might be employed without detriment to strength. In the
interior, therefore, fir was chosen where strength depended
on resistance to tension, and beech or elm for some parts
constantly under water.

For ensuring strength, the combination of the parts of
the whole structure was contrived on the principles which
mechanical science has demonstrated to be the most effi-
cient. Those principles were even then adhered to in the
greater number of mechanical machines and structures on
shore, but were neglected in naval architecture. The
consequence of such unmechanical combination of the parts
of vessels was that they always ivorked at sea, and that to
so great a degree that the transverse partitions or bulk-
heads could not be fixed: they were made to rock — that
is, they were hung on rockers ; but General Bentham, in-
stead of leaving the bulkheads at liberty to work, connected
them firmly with the bottoms, sides, and decks of his ves-
sels, so that they became a main source of strength. This
innovation has at length come into general practice in the
royal and in private dockyards.

108 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

The shell of a vessel, being of plank, is fixed to the ribs
or timbers, those timbers being of a curved form conform-
able to the shape intended for the vessel. The timbers
were all of them placed in the usual way, perpendicularly to
the keel, thus leaving the plank at the ends of the vessel
unsupported by the timbers. This deficiency was usually
in a manner remedied by the insertion of a great weight
of wood at the wooden ends, adding materially to the dead
weight of the vessel, and that at a part where it was mis-
chievous. In the experimental vessels the timbers were
placed at right angles to the rising line of the deadwood,
that is, conformably to the shape of the shell instead of to
that of the keel. The timbers themselves were of less
breadth than usual, being of not more than half the cus-
tomary solid content, thus employing trees of about thirty
years' growth instead of that of fifty years. The timbers at
the ends too were made to cross each other, thus doing
away the need for crutches and breasthooks, which, besides
their cost and weight, were a frequent source of the rotten-
ness so often found at the ends of ships. The beams of a
ship, besides their use as supports to the decks, connect
the sides of the vessel together ; the connection, in English
ships, having been effected by supporting the beam on
brackets, or knees, fixed to the ribs. The beams of ships
had hitherto been made as broad as they were deep, con-
trary to the well-known fact, that beyond a certain thick-
ness it is depth that affords strength. The beams in these
vessels were of the usual depth, but only of about half the
breadth ; the number of them was increased, so that they
connected the sides together at perhaps twice the usual
places, and they were sufficiently near to each other to
support the decks without the use of cartings and ledges,
that is, intermediate pieces to which to fix the decks. Still
more to prevent racking of the vessel, diagonal trusses
and braces were introduced ; they were included in the
structure of the fixed bulkheads, and in other parts of the

PECULIARITIES OF THEIR CONSTRUCTION. 109

ship, as between the pillars, they were introduced inde-
pendently of any partition. The advantage of diagonal
trusses or braces in affording strength had been well
known, and was in general use in all works of mechanism.
excepting that of a ship. This improvement has since
been esteemed one of the greatest that has been made in
naval architecture, but the merit of it has been universally
ascribed to Sir W. Seppings. General Bentham had in-
troduced them in all the seven vessels commenced in
1795, and gave drafts showing them to the Navy Board
25th October and 20th December 1796. The decks of
ships in general were hanging, that is, in a curve from end
to end, lowest in the mid-length, rising towards the ends.
Decks thus formed afforded no tie against the extension of
a ship from one end of it to the other ; in consequence of
which, such an extension, called breaking of the sheer, or
hogging, took place in all ships of the usual construction.
The decks of the experimental vessels were made straight,
thus acting as a string to the bow formed by the midship
section of a ship. By straight decks the collateral ad-
vantages were also obtained of enabling the midship guns
to be carried higher out of water, and of affording more
space in that part of the hold of a ship where height is
most desirable. This invention, as it may be called, has
since been adopted in various instances.

It must be evident, on a moment's reflection, how much
the strength of a vessel depends upon its plank. In these
vessels its thickness was increased from the usual three
inches to six in the lower part of the ship, an improve-
ment which to a certain extent has since been adopted in
many cases, but more particularly in ships fitted out for
perilous voyages, such as the Antarctic expedition. The
plank in the experimental vessels was also, at the ends of
the ship, placed very differently from the usual mode:
instead of extending forward and aft over the deadwood, the
plank was made to terminate against it, as it does in mid-

110 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

ships against the keelson. The bulkheads have been spoken
of as affording strength by being fixed ; but besides this a
most important improvement in naval architecture was
effected by their means : they were contrived so as to divide
the vessel into many water-tight compartments. This was
no invention of General Bentham's : he has said himself,
officially, that it was " practised by the Chinese of the
present day, as well as by the ancients ;" yet to him is due
the merit of having appreciated the advantages of those
water-tight compartments, and of having introduced the
use of them. Shipwrights, perhaps, may not be familiar
with classic lore, but could they all have been ignorant of
the expedient so common in Chinese vessels? — and it has
lately appeared that Captain Shancks had employed them in
one vessel. A late Act of Parliament provides that no iron
steamer should be built without them ; yet iron steamers
only are even now so constructed ; those of wood are still
deprived of the advantage, although at various times it was
often brought to official and public notice, from the time
of the Committee on Finance, 1798, to the last of General
Bentham's official letters in 1813.

Water-tight compartments were not, however, the only
expedients against foundering that were introduced in the
experimental vessels. By the increased thickness of the
plank, and by its arrangement at the ends of the vessels,
the deadwood, the lowest part of the stern-post, and even
the keel itself might have been beaten off without letting
water into the vessel. The rudder was also so formed
that the lower part of it might have been beaten off,
and yet there would have been enough left to steer the
ship by.

The fastenings used in ship work were most of them
unmechanical. The improvement of these, on which the
strength and durability of a ship so much depend, was a sub-
ject of first importance. The treenails in use were universally
imperfect cylinders of wood, and they were forced into

GENERAL RESULTS OF THESE CHANGES. Ill

holes in the plank and timbers of a ship, those holes being
of the same diameter from end to end. He invented a
new form of treenail of different diameters at different
parts of their length — in steps, as it were. New tools,
also of his invention, were used to bore the holes of dif-
ferent diameters, corresponding with the part of the tree-
nail which they were to receive. Hence, instead of injuring
the wood, like the common ones, the whole way through
which they were driven, these new treenails slipped easily
by hand into their holes for a certain length, then re-
quiring only to be driven home for that portion of it, still
uninjured, in which they were to take their hold. The
new treenails could therefore be thicker than common
ones, thus affording a more efficient hold. Both treenail
and hole being made by appropriate machines and augers,
the holes were filled up along their whole length, so as to
prevent the admission of water and consequent decay.
These treenails, though the advantages of them were so
apparent, have not been brought into general use. The
long bolts usually employed being both a costly and an
inefficient fastening, short metal screws were in many
cases used instead of them in the experimental vessels, es-
pecially for fastening the butt ends of the planks. By
these contrivances a much better hold than in the usual
way was taken of the timbers and planks by both tree-
nails and screws, at the same time that the timbers were
less wounded than by the customary fastenings. A con-
siderable saving was effected where the screws were sub-
stituted for long bolts ; and the perfection of this form
of treenails facilitated their substitution for many of the
usual copper fastenings. The treenails were used exclu-
sively for laying the decks. The sheathing nails were of
a new form, the points wedge shaped, instead of pyra-
midical, by which form, the broad edge being drawn across
the grain of the wood, firm hold was taken of it. They
were of pure copper, instead of being of mixed metal, in

112 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

order to avoid an injurious mixture of metals when the
sheathing should come to be re-melted ; and they were less
liable to foul than those of mixed metal. Their heads
differed from those of ordinary sheathing nails, being
made flat and smooth. Sheathing nails of the same metal
with the sheathing are in use, and the form of nail seems
now by degrees to be coming into use for other purposes
than that of ship-building; but neither the step-shaped
treenail nor the screw is yet employed in naval archi-
tecture, though screws are of such general use in all other
works of mechanism.

The Arrow and the Dart had Captain Shancks' sliding
keels. The case for them was formed by two longitudinal
bulkheads, water-tight. The effect of these several innova-
tions will appear from the services which the vessels per-
formed, from the appearance which they exhibited as to
strength, on an official survey, and from the economy of
their mode of structure, as it appeared on that survey, and
from the very low rate per ton at which a contractor would
have engaged to build others of a similar construction.

For the comfort of the crew the height between decks
was considerably greater than usual, so that the tallest
man could pass upright under the beams, instead of having
to stoop perhaps a couple of feet, or even more in some
small vessels. A much greater space per man was provided
for health and proper ventilation, there having been in a
frigate but from fifty to sixty cubic feet per man, whereas in
the sloops there were no less than 137 feet to a man. In
various parts of the experimental vessels, which in others
are dark, thick glass, either flat or convex, was introduced
as illuminators. But the invention which beyond all others
contributed to the health and comfort of the men was that
by which water was preserved sweet at sea. This deside-
ratum, so long vainly sought for, was effected by the in-
vention of metallic tanks for carrying the water, instead
of the, till then, universally employed cask. This very great

SAFEGUARDS AGAIXST FIRE. 113

improvement was not confined to points which alone would
have stamped it as of first-rate importance, the health and
comfort of the men. The form of those tanks enabled
nearly a double store of water to be stowed in the
space usually filled with casks ; and as the want of water
was the most frequent cause of a ship's return to port,
vessels were thereby enabled to remain much longer on
their stations. At that time the metal that could be most
economically employed for tanks was copper, tinned for
health's sake, and supported by wood for strength ; and
they were made to the shape of the vessel, so as to lose no
space.

Sources of real danger to a vessel of war, as well as of
apprehension of it, are explosions of gunpowder, and the
incumbrances in the interior of a ship's side which impede
or prevent shot holes from being easily got at to be plugged.
In these sloops the powder, like the water, was stowed in
metallic canisters instead of casks. The canisters were, in
like manner, formed of the shape of the magazine, and
their casings were part of the vessel. The powder itself
was thus preserved from wet or moisture, consequently
no injury could result by surrounding the canisters with
water. Accordingly, in case of danger from fire, means
were provided for letting water into the magazine around
and over the canisters. Magazine lights too, in the cus-
tomary mode, were fraught with danger. They were
no other than common candles placed in a space parti-
tioned off with glass from the magazine. Instead of such
a light safety-lamps were substituted. The safety was
obtained by placing the lamp in the centre of a double glass
case ; the space between the inner and the outer glass being
filled with water in such manner that in case of breakage the
water would necessarily extinguish the light. The tubes for
the admission of fresh air and the emission of foul were so
arranged that no sparks could find their way through them.
To facilitate the stopping of shot-holes, the sides of the

I

114 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

vessel above water were unincumbered with store-rooms,
instead of which fixed binns above the middle of the vessel
were introduced, not higher than tables, leaving a clear
space around as well as above them. Besides thus giving
easy access to the sides of the vessel, the stores were more
easily got at than in the usual store-rooms.

During General Bentham's first visit to Portsmouth
dockyard in May 1795, he was met by Sir Hugh Seymour,
then the most active naval Lord of the Admiralty.
Sir Hugh entered much into the discussions respecting
Bentham's proposed improvements ; and the reasons given
for his innovations induced strong expressions of a desire
that he should without further delay accept a permanent
engagement in the naval department. On his return
to London, Earl Spencer and Sir Charles Middleton, then
Comptroller of the Navy, cordially joined in this opinion.
Sir Charles had himself, before this period, perceived the
incompetency of the existing Civil Naval Boards to deal
with the introduction of improvements, and had contem-
plated the institution of an intermediate Board between the
Admiralty and the Navy Boards, and had already drawn
up a paper on the subject, which he now communicated
to General Bentham. According to that sketch improve-
ments of every description for the construction of ships
and their armament, and all the works subservient to
the preparation of our fleets, were to form the business of
this Board. He said that the members of his proposed
Board must be selected with the greatest care ; " their
abilities and knowledge must be first-rate in mechanics,
in ship-building and in professional sea-skill and accom-
plishments." Apparently from despair of finding these
several requisites combined in any one individual, Sir
Charles proposed that his Board should consist of three
superior members with competent assistants ; and he ex-
pressed an earnest wish that Bentham should become the
President of such a Board. But as he held joint manage-

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR-GEXEEAL OF NAVAL WORKS. 11

K

ments under any form whatever to be an insuperable bar to
efficiency in an office of such a nature, he would not accept
it. He proposed, however, as one mode in which he might
be useful, that he should return for a time to Russia, at
the expiration of his leave of absence, to pursue the course
of experiments which he had there commenced ; and that
in the mean time he should enable others, under their
Lordships' protection, to carry on several improvements of
which he had already exhibited the efficac}^. This proposal
was at first listened to without dissent ; but the novelty of
it, and the apprehension of the trouble which it would occa-
sion, were alleged as reasons for its rejection. Their Lord-
ships, in order to retain him in the British service, ulti-
mately decided on creating a new office, the constitution of
which they adopted conformably to his suggestions.

That constitution was indeed peculiar. It was based on
individual and strict responsibility, a feature without
example in the civil service of the department, although
pervading the military branch, and habitually enforced
throughout all grades of the military officers of the navy.
This new office, it was determined, should be that of an
Inspector-General of Naval Works, and that Brigadier-
Greneral Bentham should be the Inspector- General. He
was provided with assistants; but he alone was made
individually responsible for the whole business of his office.
To ensure the observance of that responsibility, and to
affix upon him personally any dereliction from his duty,
all orders from his superiors (the Board of Admiralty) were
conveyed to him in writing by their Secretary. In like
manner every opinion of his given to their Lordships, as
also all his proposals of improvement, together with the
reasons on which such- opinions and improvements were
grounded, were submitted to them, not verbally, but in
ivriting, subscribed by his sole signature. He had no
authority of any kind, or over any person whatever, the
assistants in his own office excepted. In regard to them

I 2

116 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

he had entire control, as he was himself alone responsible
for every business in which these assistants might be
employed, though he had no power either of appointment
or dismissal.

The assistants suggested as desirable in the office were a
mechanician, a civil architect, and a chemist ; professions of
which not a single individual was at that time engaged i n
any branch or department of the naval service. A secre-
tary was also allowed to the office, two draughtsmen or
clerks, according as their services in one or the other of
these duties might be required, and a messenger. The
office itself was under the same roof with the Admiralty.

So much was determined on after much discussion.
When Bentham's leave of absence from Eussia expired,
he did not return to that country, considering that the
Admiralty had not only pledged themselves to employ
him at home in the promotion of naval improvement,
but that it was with an ardent desire on their part, most
flatteringly expressed, that his own country should hence-
forward reap the benefit of his acquirements and his genius.

Early in this same year the attention of the Duke of
York had been attracted to the improvements of various
kinds suggested by Bentham, amongst others to a bag-
gage waggon of his invention, which, by order of Prince
Potemkin, had been provided for a corps of yagers. Con-
ceiving that such waggons would be very useful in the
English army, the Duke of York communicated with
Bentham on the subject, and, having examined a small
model of such a vehicle, expressed a wish that a similar
one of full size should be constructed on his account. It
was accordingly completed, and tried satisfactorily on the
Thames. These baggage waggons were amphibious, on the
same principle with the carriages which he had devised in
Siberia. The one now made was calculated for the con-
veyance of baggage of any description, or of the sick, or of
women, or even for artillery. It was in the form of a boat,

IMPROVED BAGGAGE WAGGON. 117

to which axletrees were fixed carrying a pair of wheels. A
cover was adapted to the body of the waggon, which cover
when taken off was a boat ; both body and cover were pro-
vided with means of rowing, and with moveable seats, so
that, on coming to a river, the body on being driven into
it sufficed for the transport of its contents ; and its cover,
having been lifted off, was ready as a boat for the convey-
ance of a considerable number of men. This baggage
waggon was made of copper sheets, secured to ribs, and it is
believed was the first vessel of any description of which the
exterior was formed of metal. Engagements with the
Admiralty precluded his attention to this invention ; and
it still rests in abeyance till some one shall take it up, and
have leisure and inclination to bring it into use.

During the discussions relative to the institution of the
new office of Inspector-Greneral of Naval Works, 2000/. per
annum had been spoken of by members of the Admiralty
Board as a proper salary for any man possessed of the
requisite qualifications. To this Lord Spencer acquiesced.
Bentham continued to be employed in naval concerns
alone for many months, under the impression that no
farther changes would be made respecting the office, when
apprehensions were aroused. A variety of obstacles were
thrown in the way of the institution of the office altogether,
and endeavours were made at all events to diminish its
appearance of superiority. Not only was the salary to be
reduced, but the title of the office to be changed. The
former was reduced to 750/. a year, to give it the appear-
ance of inferiority to that of a Commissioner of the Navy
(800/.) ; but in consequence of Bentham's remonstrance to
Lord Spencer (February 1796) the title of the office was re-
tained unchanged. • Emolument had never been his object
in leaving the service of Eussia, in which he was assured of
far greater advantages than any that could be expected in
the English service. In his letter to Earl Spencer he ex-
pressed his sincere wish that the salary should be left unfixed,

I 3

118 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

until the services rendered by the office should be found to
warrant the raising of it to the intended pitch. But Lord
Spencer was, as it were, compelled by opposition to fix the
salary at the 7501., giving as his reason for so doing the
despair of finding an adequate successor. In addition,
however, to the nominal salary, 500^. a year was added in
his favour individually. He saw too well the need for
improvement throughout the civil concerns of the depart-
ment to relinquish the hope of effecting it ; and, though
he was still assured by Eussian authorities of a compliance
with all his wishes if he should return to that country, and
was strongly urged to do so, yet he consented to accept
the proposed place at home.

At length, 23rd March 1796, the institution of the
office of Inspector-Greneral of Naval Works was sanctioned
by the King in Council, and on the 25th of the same
month Bentham was appointed Inspector-General : " Whose
duty it should be to consider of all improvements in
relation to the building, fitting-out, arming, navigating,
and victualling ships of war, and other vessels employed
in His Majesty's service, as well as in relation to the
Docks, Slips, Basins, Buildings, and other articles apper-
taining to His Majesty's Naval Establishments."

The chemist to assist the Inspector-Greneral was ap-
pointed on the recommendation of Mr. Wyndham, but of
all the other assistants the choice was left to the Inspector-
Greneral. Mr. Samuel Bunce was the first architect, Mr.
Rehe the mechanist ; the secretary, Mr. John Peake, had
to this time been an officer in the navy ; one of the
draughtsmen, Mr. Barr, was chosen, not on account of any
neatness or proficiency in drawing, but because, having
originally served his apprenticeship in a dockyard, he
would be eligible for employment in a naval arsenal, and
because, as he had been for several years accustomed to
working machinery of Bentham's invention, he was well
suited to be intrusted with the management of it, when it

IMPROVEMENTS IN GUN-CARRIAGES. 119

should be introduced in the dockyards. The other clerk
or draughtsman was Mr. Richard Upsall, who had served
in the same vessel in which was Bentham himself during
the three days' engagement with the Turks.

To carry out his improvement in the mode of arming
vessels of war, he submitted a proposal for making certain
experiments at Woolwich Warren, to ascertain the best
mode of fitting the gun-carriages for the sloops of war
building according to his ideas. The principal object of
these experiments was to ascertain the degree of strength
really necessary, so that no needless weight or expense
might be employed. Experiments in consequence were
made, but they were altogether useless. Bentham had in-
tended to have employed carriages which prevented recoil
of the gun, that is, made on the same principle on which he
had mounted ordnance at Cherson, and which had been
used with such good effect in actual warfare in the
Liman of Otchakoff. He sent to Woolwich carriages made
on this principle to be experimented on ; but the Ordnance
officers, instead of employing them as furnished, made
one of their two experiments on a part, it is true, of
one of the carriages, but instead of the other part which it
was necessary to use they substituted a mere block of wood.
The officers reported on their experiments, condemning, as
a principle, the prevention of the recoil of a piece of
artillery, and, consequently, the mode proposed by the
Inspector-G-eneral, although, in fact, it had not been tried.
The Report was transmitted to him for his observations.
In submitting his remarks upon it, he brought to their
Lordships' notice that the principle of non-recoil, as he
had introduced it, was nothing more than applying to
artillery of medium . sizes the same principle that is in
constant use for ordnance of the largest and of the smallest
calibres, namely, the mortar and the swivel gun. Farther
trials were accordingly made, both ashore and afloat, of
guns mounted so as not to recoil ; the result of which was,

I 4

120 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

their sanction of the mode which he had proposed for
arming the Arrow and the Dart.

The ordnance which he destined for these vessels, small
as they were, were 3 2 -pounders, twenty-eight in number
for each vessel. At the present day, guns of this calibre
on board such vessels may be thought diminutive pieces
of artillery; in 1796 it was considered a most daring
innovation. There can hardly be a doubt but that this
example, in the first instance, and Bentham's urgent
subsequent endeavours, were the means of introducing
artillery of much increased power, now so generally in use
on shipboard.

MAERIAGE. 121

CHAP. VII.

Marriage — Prison Architecture — Invention of a Mortar Mill for grinding
Cement — Chemical Tests and Experiments on Ship Timber — Means for
guarding Dockyards — Dock Buildings and Fittings — Choice of Materials
— Supply of Water — Precautions against Fire — Introduction of Steam
Engines — Copper Sheathing — Coast Defences — Report on the Office
of Inspector-General ordered by the Select Committee of the House of
Commons — Intereonvertibility of Ship Stores — Cost of Mast Ponds —
Effect of the Report to the Select Committee — Alterations and Improve-
ments in Plymouth Dockyard — Abuse of Chips — Bad Conversion of
Timber — Illness — Smuggling Vessels at Hastings.

A mere register of the business carried on in Bentham's office
is not the design of these memoirs ; it is not necessary there-
fore to notice the reports made on proposals of various kinds
referred to him for an opinion. It may be sufficient to say
in respect of them generally, that the reasons on which his
opinion was grounded were uniformly stated in writing,
affording to the proposer the means of ascertaining how far
he had been fairly dealt with. Not a single instance oc-
curred, during the whole existence of the office, that any
one had occasion to complain, or did. complain, of injustice
done to him by the Inspector- General's report.

In October of this year he married the eldest daughter
of Dr. George Fordyce.

In January 1797 it was in the contemplation of Govern-
ment to provide a prison for 10,000 prisoners of war. A
plan for such a prison was before the Admiralty, which
they considered as enormously costly. The Inspector-
General was requested to state his opinion of that plan,
as also whether he supposed that the requisite security

122 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

could be afforded at a less expense, and with less than
1200 officers and men to guard the prisoners. Certain
buildings of wood were in frame, ready to be set up.
The Inspector-Greneral determined to arrange these shed-
like structures round the circumference of a large circle,
their inner ends pointing towards the centre, and leaving
a space between building and building as airing ground,
and to glaze the ends of them sufficiently to cause a
thorough light through them from end to end. The
prisoners, their cooking-rooms, hospital, &c, being so
provided for, he proposed the erection of a guard-house
in the centre, so that, on the principle of the Panopticon,
the prisoners might at all times be under central obser-
vation and control. Besides the small arms of the guard,
there were to be mounted swivel guns, ready to throw
such small shot as migdit be most efficacious in case of
insurrection. He purposed that all the prisoners should
be fully apprised of these powerful means provided for
suppressing insubordination, so that no injustice would be
done to them, were those means of necessity to be resorted
to. By making the exterior wall a duodecagon, and placing
a sentinel at each angle outside, every side would be under
the command of two men, ready to repress any single at-
tempt at communication with the interior, or to give notice
by signal of any impending greater danger from without.
By such an arrangement even a hundred men might be
made to suffice for a guard to the 10,000 prisoners; while
to the prisoners themselves this arrangement would be
in the least possible degree annoying, as for their safe
keeping there would be no longer need for guards or
keepers to go in amongst them. The prison was not,
however, erected, the Inspector-General having been in-
formed that sufficient existing accommodation had been
found for all prisoners of war.

Specifying dates may at first sight seem useless pro-
lixity, but as many of Bentham's inventions have been

MORTAR MILLS. 123

claimed by others, it is but justice to hirn to give their
exact dates respectively. If, on the other hand, a previous
claim might have existed, such dates will afford means of
verif\ T ing any better title to an improvement. On these
accounts they will be introduced throughout, and this must
be the apology for it.

On the 17th of January he proposed the construction
of a mill of his invention, for grinding and mixing cal-
careous cements — a mortar mill. The prejudices against
steam-engines for a dockyard were yet strong, and as he
dared not to propose official]) 7 the introduction of them
for any purpose, this first mortar mill was to be worked
by horses. But prejudice was not only agaiDst steam-
engines, it extended to machinery of every kind. Still, as
the works at Portsmouth were lingering in great measure
for want of a sufficient supply of mortar, he was induced
at his own risk to order a mill to be made according to
his plans. The advantages of these mills were soon per-
ceived, and they have been universally adopted by private
engineers for all considerable works.

Just previously to this time the Inspector-Greneral was
under the necessity of reporting that the chemist was unfit
for the duties of his office, which was virtually abolished
in consequence of this report. At the same time there
could be no doubt of the need of chemical science in
regard to a great variety of works for the outfit and
maintenance of the fleet. Many particular experiments
had been set down amongst the first to be tried, such
as those on which the goodness of copper sheathing de-
pended ; the influence upon wood, which the natural juices
remaining in it might have on its duration ; how far those
juices might cause the difference in duration between
timber felled in spring and autumn ; and by what chemical
agents the mischievous effects of those juices might be
prevented ; also a variety of experiments on calcareous
cements.

124 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

A rooted aversion then existed, and is said yet to pre-
vail in all departments of Government to the making of
experiments that may be called exhaustive. Bentham,
on the contrary, considered that where experiments were
made at all, good economy required that they should be
exhaustive. In timber, for instance, he had collected
data which proved that under certain chemical circum-
stances it was rendered very durable, under others subject
to rapid decay ; that certain chemical agents, as sulphates
of copper, of iron, and of alumine, were preservatives :
but whether this good effect depended on the destruction
chemically of the natural unassimilated juices remain-
ing in the wood, or whether mechanically, on the filling
up of its pores so as to exclude air and moisture, was
then, and perhaps remains still, unknown. He would
have caused experiments to be made to ascertain how the
preservative material acted, so as to show which of the
materials that were sufficiently efficacious was the easiest
applied in practice, and the cheapest.

His principal attention at this time was directed to the
details of the masonry works which he had proposed for
Portsmouth yard. Whatever the nature of ground to be
built upon, it had been an uniform custom to drive piles
as a foundation. At Portsmouth the ground was clay,
impervious to water for a considerable depth, and capable
of bearing any conceivable weight of superstructure ; but
in parts, where piles of great length had been driven,
they had not only broken up the clay, but had pierced
down to a stratum containing water, to the great injury of
many foundations. This piling he caused to be discontinued,
notwithstanding the strong remonstrances of the dock-
yard officers, seconded by the Navy Board. The stability
of his great works there, after more than half a century,
has proved the soundness of his judgment ; and the con-
sequent saving of expense has been very great. This was
no new invention, but the example thus afforded lias given

USE OF INVERTED ARCHES IN DOCKS. 125

confidence to many an engineer, who otherwise might not
have ventured to build heavy walls on a bare foundation
of clay. The form till then given to docks was ill suited
to its purpose, as not having its parts conformable to the
shape of ships, in some parts not leaving sufficient working
room, in others giving useless space, which of course ad-
mitted of its being filled with water that had afterwards
to be pumped out. For his docks he contrived that the
altars, or step-like retreats at the sides, should afford
ample room for work, and the best shape for supporting
the shores with which a vessel is held up, while at the
same time there should be no superfluous space. The
bottoms of docks had hitherto been formed of plat-
forms of wood, a material liable to speedy decay, and very
costly. For this he substituted inverted arches of masonry.
This mode of structure was strongly objected to. The
Comptroller of the Navy thought it even worth while to
pronounce an opinion against it, supported by that of both
the surveyors of the navy ; these opinions were said to be
based upon the instance of Eamsgate, where Smeaton had
attempted to introduce an inverted arch, but had failed.
Notwithstanding this weighty authority, the Inspector-
General's reasons in support of his plans prevailed. The
bottoms of the docks, and also the entrance to the great
basin, were made inverted arches of stone. They have
stood, like his other works, the test of time, and the
example has been so followed by private engineers, that
inverts, as they are now called, are in very general use.
Little regard was at that time paid in naval works to the
comparative fitness of the materials employed, either as
to first cost, fitness for specific purposes, or durability.
Portland stone was generpdly employed at Portsmouth,
costly as it was, and subject to decay, and wood was em-
ployed for copings of walls. Instead of this he introduced
granite for the copings of docks and basin, and Purbeck
stone in place of Portland. Well-chosen Purbeck stone,

126 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

when laid on its proper bed, is far more durable than
Portland, and is so much cheaper, that by this single
change of material a saving on each dock was obtained
of no less than 15,000?. besides the farther saving of
10,000/. on each dock by the other expedients of his
introduction. These improvements and these savings are
stated on a comparison with the estimated cost by the
dockyard officers of plans not only already sanctioned by
the Admiralty, but some of them then actually in the
course of execution.

Since these works have been brought into full use, it
has been thought impossible that they should ever have
been opposed. Yet at the time he had to contend not
only with remonstrances from the dockyard officers, but
with the more formidable opposition of the Navy Board
to every one of his proposals. The Admiralty uniformly
transmitted such objections to him. In every instance
he had to submit in writing the reasons by which he
hoped to refute adverse opinions. This consumed much
of his time, which probably might have been more profit-
ably employed; yet he did not consider it as altogether
lost, since, perhaps for the first time, it brought each
work to the test of accurate data, and of specific reasons.
On no other grounds was a decision ever given in favour
of his proposals ; and it so happened that none were ever
rejected.

The dockyards generally were ill supplied with fresh
water ; vessels obtained their sea-store of it by means of
boats, which carried it off to them in casks. Nor had any
provision been made in any naval arsenal for preventing
the ravages of fire, excepting, indeed, that a few small fire
engines were kept in store. To remedy these deficiencies
he presented in February the outlines of a plan, which
he proposed for execution at Portsmouth, but which he re-
presented as desirable for all public establishments at that
port and elsewhere. He proposed the attainment of an

EMPLOYMENT OF STEAM ENGINES. 127

abundant supply of fresh water at Portsmouth dockyard,
by digging deep wells. This expedient, now so extensively
adopted in this and other countries, was at that time rare,
though not without example where the required supply was
but small ; but for large supplies water was still only brought
from distant rivers at a vast expense. He had informed him-
self of all particulars respecting Mr. Yulliamy's overflowing
well at Kensington, and of that which supplied the great
brewery in Tottenham-court Eoad, while in Portsmouth
dockyard itself the immense flow of water, so troublesome
whenever piles pierced the stratum of clay, gave assurance
that abundance might be obtained for all useful purposes.

For raising water to the reservoirs, and for forcing it
through the pipes and hose, he proposed a steam-engine.

Now that steam-engines are of such general use in all
of the naval establishments, the prejudice entertained at
the end of the last century against them can hardly be
conceived. The Lords of the Admiralty, convinced by
Bentham's arguments in favour of that motive power,
had from the first determined that it should be em-
ployed for giving motion to his machinery; but as even
they could not venture to sanction the introduction of
steam-engines openly, they had authorised him to pro-
cure one for facilitating the works to the experimental
vessels at Eedbridge. It was ordered, but as it was not
completed till after the vessels were launched, it was
reserved till some favourable occasion should occur for in-
troducing it in a dockyard. The cry had been, and still
continued, that steam-engines would set fire to the dock-
yard; that the artificers would rise, if an attempt were
made to introduce machinery ; that neither efficiency nor
economy could be effected by machinery for naval pur-
poses. These and many other objections known to prevail
against steam-engines, required on his part unusual cau-
tion. At this time it happened that new pumps were
required for pumping the docks at Portsmouth : he seized

128 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

upon this favourable occasion to propose that the pumps
should be worked by a steam-engine ; and specified the
raising of water to extinguish fire as likely to be thought
the least obnoxious use to which such an engine could
be put. Still dockyard opinion was, that there was no
use in setting up a steam-engine ; men and horses all
along had done all the pumping work required ; what
need for innovation ? His perseverance and his arguments
prevailed, and the result has proved that those objections,
one and all, were altogether groundless.

It was in this year too that he commenced his investi-
gations respecting copper sheathing, with a view to reform
in the manner of treating and providing this costly article.
Mr. Wyatt had proposed the use of tinned sheets, in order
to prevent corrosion ; the General had in consequence
caused one of his small vessels to be sheathed partly by
Mr. Wyatt's tinned sheets and partly by the usual copper
sheathing, but so mixed upon the bottom of the vessel as
to render the experiment a fair one. The result was as
might be expected, that the tinned sheets soon became foul
with weeds in Portsmouth Harbour. He had observed a
very great difference in the duration of copper sheathing,
although it could not be accounted for by any known dif-
ference in its manufacture. That this fact mi^ht be veri-
tied and stand on official record, he caused samples to be
furnished him of sheathing which had been remarkable for
shortness of duration, as also of such as had lasted unusu-
ally long. Some had been corroded in a few months, other
specimens had lasted eighteen years ; yet of these there
was no known difference in their manufacture, nor could
any be distinguished by inspection. He could only report,
therefore, that the great number of experiments requisite,
both chemical and mechanical, rendered it impossible yet
to give any final opinion on the subject ; but that those
already made had thrown considerable light on the subject.
Still, he observed, there were many instances amongst

COAST DEFENCES. 129

compound metals, which show that very small portions of
impurity materially influence their immediate properties.
He further stated that the mechanical experiments which
he had already made were of great importance. The} 7-
had proved that not only the hardness, flexibility, strength,
and other obvious properties of the same piece of copper
were greatly affected by the mechanical treatment of it, but
also the remarkable fact, that its resistance to chemical
agents might be increased as much as one third by mecha-
nical means.

At the beginning of the year 1798, the naval administra-
tion was under serious apprehension that a descent would
be made on our shores by the French, and that our means
of coast defence were inadequate to the protection of the
country. In his private conferences with Earl Spencer,
this had been a prominent subject of discussion, and on
the 20th January 1798, "the apparent urgency of
the present state of things ' induced him to submit a
series of " Queries relative to Coast Defence." They were
suggestive of the means of making an effective and im-
mediate addition to the mass of our naval force, general
and local, and particularly applicable to the defence of the
coast.

These queries, and the notes accompanying them, ex-
hibit, perhaps, the most comprehensive view that has
ever yet been taken of the real nature of the coast
with a view to its defence. He points out a circum-
stance of fundamental importance, not noticed by any one
else even to the present day, namely, that the shallow-
ness of the water on most parts of the coast is such, that
" even our sloops of war cannot approach for the purpose
of defence," but where " a desperate enemy in small vessels,
and with certain winds, would be able to reach it ;" " that
for the protection of those shallow parts there do not exist
any other floating mearjs of defence than the gun-brigs,
vessels incapable of working to windward," notoriously unfit

K

130 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

for sailing, and not fitted for rowing ; and that the danger
of stationing fleets between the great naval ports, rendered
it desirable to have a mass of naval force composed of
vessels capable of lying in the small harbours.

It is true that in the present advanced state of naval
architecture, vessels are not only constructed so that
most of them can work to windward and are capable of
sailing, but we have a steam navy at command, which
is independent of wind for locomotion. Still, so far from
shallowness of structure having been regarded as a desi-
rable property, the tendency has rather been to give
increased size and deeper draught of water to vessels gene-
rally, steamers as well as sailing vessels. That General
Bentham's views on the subject are looked upon as correct
by men amongst the most competent to judge, is evinced
by the evidence given before the Select Committee, 1848,
on Navy, Army, and Ordnance Estimates, by Sir Thomas
Hastings, who had been president, in 1844, of a commission
to inquire into the state of coast defence.

He then proceeded to submit many points of considera-
tion, essential to the efficacy of a naval force, which at that
time seemed wholly disregarded ; they were stated in the
familiar language of private confidence, and in the form
of queries; but as they indicate separate items of con-
sideration, they may best be separately stated as asser-
tions.

" The efficacy of a mass of naval force (cceteris paribus)
depends partly on the destructiveness of the shot which it
is employed to discharge, partly upon the promptitude
with which the vessels of which it is composed, can be
brought to act upon any part of the coast at pleasure.

" All of our small ports are capable of admitting vessels
that could mount carronades, and even mortars, of any
calibre.

" Coasting sloops employed in private service might be
obtained by government in any number required. All of

NAVAL ARMAMENTS. 131

them are capable of being armed with from eight to
twenty-four carronades, 24-pounders.

" The smallest vessels (incapable of bearing the sea) are
all of them capable of being armed.

" The substitution of guns of large calibre for those of
small calibre on board the existing stock of ships is the
prompter and the cheaper mode of making an addition to
the mass of existing force.

" To enable existing ordnance to be fired with a doubled
rapidity would, in point of efficacy, be doubling the force
of that ordnance. The maximum of quickness of firing a
gun with a given number of men depends upon the manner
in which it is mounted : but the maximum of quickness of
firing, as between any two modes, has never been ascer-
tained ; nor even has it been so much attended to, as to
have caused any regular set of experiments to be made for
ascertaining the maximum quickness of firing in any one
such mode."

He next stated his mode of mounting ordnance on the
principle of non-recoil, saying that the space necessary for
recoil operates as a prevention to the mounting of guns on
board many vessels ; that two men to a 24-pounder car-
ronade would be sufficient for working it, if mounted
without recoil. But knowing the prejudice against this
mode of mounting ordnance, he indicated simple means of
ascertaining what recoil was desirable.

Thus, more than half a century ago, were these important
improvements proposed, that have since so greatly aug-
mented the force of naval armaments, — ordnance of large
calibre instead of small ; carcases, shells, and missiles of the
same class in addition to solid shot. In the mode of mount-
ing ordnance now, although recoil is not yet prevented, still
an approach is being made towards this improvement, by
checking the recoil to a certain extent. And the mercan-
tile marine of the country is also looked to by govern-
ment, as a source of naval military strength, though

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132 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTIIAJI.

the nation has been put to an expense from which
General Bentham's proposal was exempt. At present
(under different shapes) a premium is given to ship-
owners for the preparation of their vessels to fit them
for the reception of guns. But he, by very simple, cheap,
and expeditious means, contrived that a trader, in a couple
of days, might be fitted for guns and armed ; made so that
no expense need be incurred by the public, until the time
the mercantile navy would be actually required for pur-
poses of war.

The Select Committee of the House of Commons on
Finance, in the beginning of the year 1798, inquired into
the constitution of the office of Inspector-General of Naval
Works ; what, if any, benefits had resulted from it ? and
issued their precept, that the Inspector-General should lay
before them an account of the works in his department.

In reply to this order the Inspector-General stated that
the execution of all works remained, as before his appoint-
ment, in the hands of the subordinate boards, but in as far
as concerned the business of suggestion no limit whatever
existed ; that his time had been chiefly employed in pre-
paring and submitting to the Admiralty various proposals
for the improvement of different branches of naval busi-
ness ; that those proposals had been referred by the Admi-
ralty to the Navy Board for investigation ; that although
the opinions obtained in consequence had, it might be
said uniformly, been against the proposals, the Admi-
ralty had, in the most important instances, ordered the
works in question to be carried into execution ; and that
in no instance had any of them been finally rejected.

The intercourse which the business of his office had
given him with the several boards and establishments
under the Lords of the Admiralty, had confirmed the
opinion as to management which he had formed in early
life. The more he investigated, the stronger was his
conviction, that it is of primary importance that some

INTERCONVEKTIBILITY OF STORES. 133

one individual should stand alone responsible for the due
performance of every duty.

The more important of the engineering works which
were reported on to the Committee, have already been
noticed, as also the peculiarities in the hulls of his experi-
mental vessels. But one method which he looked upon
as capable of effecting great saving, should not be omitted,
namely, that of inter convertibility. This principle is no
other, he said, than that, wherever possible, an article
intended for one particular purpose should be contrived
of such material, size, and shape as might render it appli-
cable to other analogous purposes. That it is a principle of
very extensive application there can be no doubt, but as a
general regulation it has not to this time been observed in
practice. In regard to it he stated: "The accidents to
which vessels, particularly vessels of war, are liable, render
it impossible but that certain articles should occasionally
be renewed; for this purpose a great deal of space on
board ship is taken up by the stowage of spare articles of
various kinds ready prepared." — " But in and belonging
to a ship there are a great many different articles which,
without rendering any one of them less fit for its use,
might be made perfectly similar to each other ; by which
means two spare articles in store, applicable to seven or
eight different purposes, could, in the event of an accident
happening twice to the same subject, form a more valuable
supply than if duplicates only had been provided for each
of these seven or eight articles."

He had introduced this principle in several instances
on board the Arrow. " Of the three lower masts two
were made alike, the topmasts were all four alike, for
there were two to the mainmast, one above the other;
the three top-gallant masts were all alike, several of the
yards were alike ; studding-sail booms were alike, five of
the principal sails were either perfectly alike, or, by a very
easy addition or separation, were capable of supplying the

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134 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

place of each other." He further stated that by keeping
this principle in view, at the time of proportioning the
different classes of ships, as well as the different parts
and appendages of them, ships at sea might not only be
enabled to possess within themselves a much more efficient
supply, but a much less expensive stock might suffice for
our storehouses at home.

A Eeport upon the different naval works to which he had
objected was furnished at the request of the Committee.
In place of one of them, a mast-pond in Portsmouth yard,
the expense of which was officially estimated at 189,000/.,
he proposed another work, the cost of which, estimated by
the same dockyard officer who had made the former esti-
mate, amounted to no more than 17,725/. This difference
in cost was obtained by the Inspector-General's skill in the
arrangement of engineering works ; his mast-pond, not-
withstanding its lesser cost, provided more abundant and
more efficient water store room than would have been
obtained by the plan objected to. This work afforded an
opportunity of bringing into view two important conside-
rations habitually neglected in the naval department, as
indeed in all other departments of government where
capital is sunk in permanent works. These considerations
were, first, the amount of the annual money value of benefit
expected from the use of a work compared to the annual
interest of the money sunk for its attainment ; and, secondly,
the loss by unnecessary delay in the execution of a work,
thereby retarding the period when compensation might be
expected for the outlay by the use of that work. This mast-
pond is one amongst many examples of habitual extrava-
gance in beginning many works at the same time, and car-
rying them on simultaneously, by little and little, year
after year. The mast-pond in question, if continued in the
same manner in which it had already been carried on for
some years, could not in that mode, by the greatest possible
expedition, have been completed in less than thirty-one

INTEREST ON OUTLAY IN NAVAL WORKS. 13o

years. At the end of that period the cost of the work, as
it would appear in the books, would have been simply the
195,495^. ; but during those thirty-one years interest would
be paid upon the money yearly sunk upon it. He had
caused a good accountant to calculate how much that
interest would amount to, taking it at 5 per cent., and
adding yearly to the sum previously expended that which
had been disbursed during the year. It appeared from the
arithmetician's figures that the real cost of the work at the
end of the thirty-one years, instead of being the simple
195,495^., would, in fact, have amounted to no less than
4:58,5681. But this was not the strongest point of view
in which the example could be seen, for the Inspector-
Greneral stated that, taking as a standard the rate of progress
at which the mast-pond had already been going on, it would
not have been completed in less than 176 years; conse-
quently, at the period of its completion, the sums expended
on the work, together with the interest and compound in-
terest upon them, would have amounted to the enormous
sum of 132 millions sterling. This statement led (on his
personal examination, 9th of May) to the question, "Is
there any account kept of the interest of money expended
on naval works ?" He replied, "None in the dockyards, nor
yet, I believe, in any of the public offices ; and I conceive
great loss arises from want of attention to the subject."
He further said, " A parallel thus made and habitually
kept up between the expense in the way of interest and
the amount (though it were but an ideal one) # of the benefit
in the way of use, would, in my opinion, be productive of
very essential advantages to the public service. It would
serve as a check to the undertaking of works, of which the
annual use should not seem likely to compensate for the
annual expense ; it would operate as a spur to the execu-
tion of each work ; it would serve as a memento to make
the earliest, as well as the greatest, possible use of the
work."

K 4

136 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM".

No apology seems needed for having introduced these
extracts, for up to this time no attempt has been made to
keep such accounts as those indicated by the Inspector-
General ; yet, in respect to the finance of the realm, perhaps
no other measure would produce so beneficial a result as a
general attention to the value of the interest of money.
This disregard in public departments of the interest on
money sunk is the more remarkable, as it is habitually
calculated and referred to by our merchants and manu-
facturers, and the annual financial value of the benefit
expected from the use of a work, is habitually brought to
view in all proposals for works to be paid for by public
companies. And as to the wasteful mode of applying to
parliament for money by driblets, a little for one work,
a littl i for another, that never took place in any case, while
Bentham had to prepare estimates for engineering works.
He yearly learnt from the First Lord what sum he was
willing to ask for, and parliament likely to grant ; he then
selected the works the most required, and ascertained how
much could be expended on each of them, with due atten-
tion to economy in carrying them on, and inserted in his
estimate no other works than those which the specified
sum would pay for.

The Inspector-General's report produced extraordinary
sensation in the Admiralty. The Committee on Finance,
suspecting that much mismanagement had been going on in
subordinate boards of the naval department, were desirous
of bringing it to light in a manner the least obnoxious to the
superior board, yet such as should promise to produce a
remedv. The chairman of the Committee, Charles Abbot
(early in February), concerted, therefore, with General
Bentham the best means of effecting this purpose, and it
was arranged between them that the Committee should call
upon him for " an account of the works in the depart-
ment of the Inspector-General of Naval Works," arranged
under certain heads, (which, in fact, Bentham furnished to

KEPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE. 137

the chairman,) " with any other observations explanatory
of the above matters."

This precept, 26th of February 1798, was communi-
cated to the Admiralty on the 1st of March. The In-
spector-Greneral immediately employed himself in preparing
the account required, but without neglecting the current
business of his office. The amount of time he spent in
actual mental labour may be conceived from the journal
of the 4th of March. This journal was not written with
his own hand, but by one of his family*, to whom he
related events and conversations ; after the journal was
written, he daily read it over and corrected it. On
this 4th of March it is noted: "At work, both B. and
myself, from seven in the morning till near half-past ten
at night, with only one hour's intermission, at observations
preparing for Committee on Finance; and on general
observations on dockyard officers." The month was spent
much in the same way. He saw Mr. Abbot occasionally,
from whom he learnt, on the 28th, that all of the public
offices were afraid of being examined into ; and on the
30th, Bentham learnt from Lord Spencer that the " Navy
Board and the Admiralty were at daggers drawn." On
the 2nd of April "Mr. Abbot called, looked over and
corrected letter to the Committee on Finance — thinks the
Committee will publish the papers : if they should not,
says B. can publish them himself." On the 3rd measures
were taken for having fair copies made of the report;
and on the 4th " B. went to the Admiralty to see Lady
Spencer ; but she was engaged, and could not receive him."
In the course of the day he saw Lord Spencer, when other
business was discussed, but not a syllable passed on the
subject of the report; Bentham afterwards saw Mr. Abbot,
and read to him the letter to the Committee. On the
5th the letter and the report were sent to the Committee,

* By Lady Bentham. — Ed.

138 LIFE OF SIE SAMUEL BENTHAM.

and a copy of both officially to the secretary of the
Admiralty.

Now came an explosion of wrath. Mr. Nepean on the
6th sent for the Inspector-General : " told him he thought
he was reprehensible in sending in the report to the
Committee." Bentham saw Lord Spencer, who desired
him to get it back again. He then went to Abbot for
the report, but was told that he could not have it re-
turned. Should he go to the secretary for it? "It was
as much as his place was worth to give it." — " He went
back and told Lord Spencer that he could not get it."
Mr. Nepean told him a that he would be reprimanded by
the Admiralty Board." He replied that he must bear it ;
he was responsible for everything he did. Lord Spencer
said, " it was well written ; that he had been up all night
reading it."

But the matter was not allowed to rest. Those members
of the Admiralty Board who wished for no change had
taken alarm, and on Monday the 8th the Inspector-Greneral
received an official order, " not to forward the report to
the Committee until you shall have received their further
directions." His answer to this was, that having only
been directed to furnish a copy of it for their Lordships 1
"information," he had, in obedience to their commands,
sent the copy required; but the report having been so
long delayed, he had thought it incumbent on him to
submit it on the same day to the Committee. However,
the unexpected sensation which his report had occasioned,
induced him to call on and consult General Koss re-
specting his conduct. The General approved of it, and
informed him that the Board of Ordnance never inter-
fere in any report made by their inferiors. Other persons
were also consulted by him, in the presence too of Mr.
Nepean. Many of these persons objected to some of
the Inspector-General's proceedings, when Mr. Nepean,
on being asked what he thought of General Bentham,

EFFECT OF THE KEPORT. 139

replied that "he was too much for them all." Indeed,
with the exception of this single transaction, Mr. Nepean
approved of all the Inspector- General's proceedings. In
the present case, it would seem that apprehension on the
part of those who had suffered mismanagement to go on
unheeded, had for the moment influenced the secretary of
the Admiralty ; and that the First Lord himself had on
this occasion been worried into a persuasion that this said
report was fraught with mischief.

The Inspector-General waited again on Lord Spencer,
who announced that a reprimand from the Board would
be passed. Bentham related what General Eoss had said,
and suggested that any endeavour of the Board to get it
back would only render its matter of the more importance.
His Lordship asked, " Would you like it yourself?" — " No ;
certainly he should not." — "It was not called for," said
his Lordship. " If you had given an account of one work
it would have been sufficient ; nobody gives a more par-
ticular account than they are absolutely obliged to give."

A peep behind the scenes is rarely obtained when
reports to committees of inquiry are being prepared ; but
what passed on this occasion may well indicate the habit
of concealment usual in their fabrication. Much vexation
and momentary difficulty was incurred by the Inspector-
General by his honest independence ; but he was shortly
afterwards rewarded by the impression for good which his
report had made at the Admiralty, and which led to real
improvement in civil naval management.

On the 9th he called on Lady Spencer, who said she
had been too ill to receive him before; that the blame
about the report was that he had brought it forward just
when the French were coming. "That was just the
time," he said, " for producing a sensation, and having
things altered that required it." General Eoss came in,
and recommended most urgently forbearance on Lord
Spencer's part. Bentham repeated his regret at what

140 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

Lord Spencer had suffered, and said that his object in
having wished to show it to Lady Spencer was, that if she
should think any expressions in it would be offensive, they
should be expunged. General Eoss again said that in the
Ordnance it was made a point of delicacy, not to inter-
fere even so much as to inquire what the subordinates
wrote or said. But Bentham was advised for the present
to keep out of Lord Spencer's way.

The excitement soon ceased with regard both to Lord
Spencer and Mr. Nepean ; but as the Board persisted in
their desire to correct the report, the Inspector-General
obtained it back again, and on the 30th April enclosed it
to the secretary. On the 8th of May it was returned with
certain corrections made in it, and their Lordships signi-
fied their desire that it should be returned to the Com-
mittee as corrected.

The original copy of the report sent on the 5th April
to the Committee, has been examined ; and the corrections
made by the Admiralty are marked in red ink. They are
confined to two instances ; the one relating to the steam-
engine and machinery in Portsmouth dockyard, which had
been stated not to have been determined on, but for which
their Lordships' orders had just been given, and a correction
was made accordingly. The other correction was the ex-
punging two paragraphs, in which observations had been
made as to the superfluous expense that was habitually
incurred by uneconomical practices in the construction of
vessels ; but the statement was allowed to remain, of the
comparative saving that would result from the mode of
construction exemplified in his experimental vessels. It
may be observed that it was probably exposure of de-
ficiencies in naval construction that rendered the Navy
Board and their supporters so very sore. But in regard
to the report itself, the correction of it by the Admiralty
rendered what had been before but the opinion of a
single man, an official document, and sanctioned its state-

REPORT ON WORKS IN PLYMOUTH DOCKYARD. 141

ments throughout, by the highest naval authority in the
realm.

The report so corrected was returned to the Committee,
who did not fail to avail themselves on the same day
of the high sanction which it had obtained, for the In-
spector-General was examined, and the first question put
to him was, " Are the reports delivered in by you respect-
ing naval works presented with permission of the Board of
Admiralty ? " — " They are, having been submitted to the
Admiralty Board."

By a further precept of the Committee on Finance,
Bentham was directed to report on works proposed by him
for Plymouth dockyard, and of such others as he might
have objected to. Large sums had been expended on that
dockyard, but magnificence had, unfortunately, been more
considered than utility. His proposals for Plymouth,
therefore, were principally confined to rendering those
works of increased use, or more appropriate to the service
for which they were designed. He objected to the pro-
posed landing-place, as being inadequate to the accommo-
dation of a sufficient number of boats, and because, in
common with all the landing-places in Plymouth yard,
boats could not approach them at low water, but planned
instead, a boat harbour, where boats might always lie
afloat, and where landing and embar cation could be ef-
fected at all times of tide. Many storehouses had been
built for grandeur of appearance, so that each floor was of
double the height that could be employed as store room ;
for these, he proposed the insertion of intermediate floors :
thus these houses were made to receive conveniently
double the former quantity of stores. These and many
other alterations may- appear insignificant, nor would they
be mentioned, were it not to show how little attention had
been paid to usefulness, as though magnificence were of
more importance in a royal dockyard than convenience.
It must not be supposed that he disregarded appear-

142 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

ance ; for though he looked on this consideration as
secondary to that of use, his subsequent proposals testify
his anxiety to avail himself of architectural skill and
taste.

By a precept of the 17th of April he was ordered to
" state his opinion upon the expediency of abolishing the
practice of chips in his Majesty's dockyards, and the
orounds of such opinion." This order had originated in
a suggestion of the Inspector-General's to the chairman
of the Committee. His well-known intimate knowledge
of what was the real practice in the management of the
civil concerns of the navy, had led to consultation with
him as to what would be the least obnoxious mode of
bringing abuses and mismanagement to view, and of
laying a foundation, on which effectual reform might be
instituted by the Admiralty ; and it will be seen that that
Board availed itself, during two successive administrations,
of the preparatory step thus taken. The abuses consequent
on the allowance of chips to workmen had been noticed
previously to the appointment of this Committee, yet no
administration had had the hardihood to abolish the prac-
tice — indeed, no means had yet been devised of effecting
this desirable reform, so as not to excite the animosity
of the workmen. The Inspector-General had ascertained
that the abuses arising from this privilege, much ex-
ceeded even his worst expectations ; and wheu he had,
in private with the chairman, informed him of a variety
of particulars on the subject, the precept was issued, and
he devised a remedy.

Notorious as was this abuse, the Inspector-General
would not, however, have hazarded an opinion without the
most positive proof. He had, therefore, during a late
visit to Portsmouth yard, taken up his abode close to
the dockyard gates, where, without its being noticed by
the artificers, he could see the bundles of chips brought
out, and many of them opened for sale in a kind of

ABUSE OF CHIPS. 143

market, held below his windows. As it was winter,
he professed to like an addition of wood to his coal fire.
In this way bundles were frequently obtained, which,
on putting the pieces together, showed that a whole
deal had been cut up to reduce it to the greatest length
allowed, three feet; or, perhaps, even still more valuable
oak planks or oak timber had been thus cut up. This
practice of allowing chips had its influence on the con-
struction of second-rate houses in Portsea and its vicinity ;
stairs were just under three feet wide ; doors, shutters, cup-
boards, and so forth, were formed of wood in pieces just
under three feet long. He stated to the Committee, " I
am very decidedly of opinion that it is highly expedient that
the practice of carrying out of the dockyards any article
whatsoever, under the denomination of chips, should be
abolished." He observed that a superior degree of vigilance
on the part of the officers might sometimes check these
abuses ; but that it was his decided opinion that whilst
chips of any description were allowed, no such vigilance
could be depended on. It was only mastermen and fore-
men who had opportunities of judging of the lawfulness
of the way in which chips were made ; and these officers
living amono 1 the artificers dared not enforce regulations
which would bring upon them the resentment of hundreds,
and instanced the danger to which such officers would be
exposed by an example lately afforded. " An officer of this
description, who, having an extraordinary degree of zeal
for the public service and a superior sense of his duty,
was led to check in some degree these abuses, and rendered
himself so evidently an object of resentment to the ar-
tificers, that it was thought necessary for his personal
security, that he should for some time be guarded on his
way to and from the dockyard."

From this time the Inspector-General came to be con-
sidered not only as the naval architect, the civil engineer,
the naval military engineer, but, further, in the still

144 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

more important light of the reformer of abuses, and the
deviser of a new system of management grounded on sure
principles ; that is, on those principles which have insured
success in the great manufacturing and commercial
concerns of private men, and which have at the same time
contributed so effectually to the enrichment and prosperity
of the nation.

It has been seen that the Inspector-General had repre-
sented the need of better management of the timber depart-
ment to the Committee on Finance, and that evidence was
officially before the Board of Admiralty. In addition to this
he had often represented to Lord Spencer the great improvi-
dence and waste that was habitual in regard to this costly
store ; but particular facts, such as could be presented to
his Lordship, were wanting, till in June 1798 the late Sir
Henry Peake, then second assistant in Portsmouth yard,
furnished convincing examples of bad conversion. He sent
drawings to the Inspector-Greneral of some of the most ruin-
ous instances. These were not confined to the loss, by waste
of substance, in cutting up large timber to a small piece,
or to waste of money, in cutting up high-priced timber for
purposes where less costly pieces were equally appropriate ;
but it was further most mischievous, because it was the de-
struction of timber of a size, of a quality, of a form rarely
to be obtained, although essential in the construction of
large ships.

Extreme application to business in general, increased as
it was by the necessity of replying to the continual objec-
tions made to all his plans of improvement, brought upon
Bentham a severe illness, so that he was under the necessity
of retiring for a month from all official duty. This was
the only occasion during his service of seventeen years
that he ever allowed any illness to withdraw his attention
from the business of his office. When unable to leave
the house, he worked at home ; when confined even to his
bed, still he received his assistants. On this occasion

DRAUGHT OF VESSELS. 145

he retired to a secluded farmhouse at Fairlight, near
Hastings.

The farm happened to be close to a ravine, and to a creek
of the sea where much smuggling was habitually carried on.
By personal observations made at this time, he convinced
himself of the facility with which small vessels came into
the creek at their pleasure, landed their cargoes, and went
out again, unanno} r ed by the armed vessels on the coast.
The smugglers drew very little water ; the armed vessels
employed against them were of deep draught, and con-
sequently could not approach the shore, — an example
proving how well grounded was his opinion, that large
vessels alone are not to be depended on for service on our
shallow coasts.

146 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

CHAP. VIII.

Dock Entrances at Portsmouth — New South Dock for Ships of the Line —
Choice of Stone in building — Mast Ponds — Reservoirs for Clearing
Docks — Treatment of his Experimental Vessels — Floating Dam —
Steam Engine and Pumps — A Russian Fleet at Spithead — Interviews
with the Officers — Daily Occupations — Character of Dockyard "Work-
men — Steam Dredging Machine — Enlargement of Marine Barracks at
Chatham — Artesian Well — Deptford Dockyard — Sheerness — Proposals
for a Dockyard at the Isle of Grain — Improved Copper Sheathing —
Success of the Experimental Vessels — Principle of Non-recoil in mount-
ing Guns — Engagement between the Millbrook and the French Frigate
Bellone, and between the Dart and the Desiree.

When General Bentham returned to duty, the works at
Portsmouth called for his first attention. It had been pro-
posed that the entrance to the basin, its apron, gates, &c,
should be constructed as those to other basins and docks
usually are. But the enormous expense attending such
works, and their inconvenience when executed, induced him
to propose that the entrance should be of masonry, the lower
part in the form of an inverted arch, which, with its sides,
should form a groove. By these means he avoided the ex-
pense of the immense number of piles usually employed to
tie down the apron or bottom when it is made of wood, as
all entrances had been hitherto. In closing the entrance,
instead of the usual gates, he contrived a holloiv float-
ing dam, which, when across the entrance, should tit,
watertight, into the groove in the masonry, the heel,
as it might be called, of the dam to press against one
or the other of the sides of the groove, according as the
water might be to be kept in or out of the basin. The

FLOATING DAMS. 147

interior of the dam was provided with valves, so that water
for sinking it could be admitted by them, or run out of it
at pleasure, without the need of pumping.

LTp to that time docks and basins had prevented traffic
across their entrances, excepting for foot passengers. In-
stead of the slight bridge used for that purpose, he con-
trived one supported by the floating dam, over which
the heaviest loaded carriages might pass ; an accommodation
particularly desirable in this part of the yard, where weighty
loads were frequently required to be conveyed from one side
of the basin to the other. This strong bridge formed a
part of the dam itself, so as to be floated away and brought
back again together ; thus, as soon as the dam could be
replaced, the communication between the opposite piers
would be effected.

The perfect success of this work at Portsmouth furnished
a happy example to private engineers ; both inverted arch
and floating dam were shortly afterwards copied by them,
and have become of very general use. The floating dam has
indeed been newly named, and called a caissoon, and thus
the inventor of it is lost sight of ; but this is by no means
the only instance in which General Bentham's inventions
have been adopted by others, and the credit of them
given to his imitators instead of to himself. The original
floating dam, or caissoon, at Portsmouth, though of wood,
lasted for the long term of forty-four years, having received
during the time no repair of any consequence. The
inverted arch of masonry still remains perfect, and has
completely answered its intended purpose.

His drawings for the new south dock in the basin at
Portsmouth were not submitted to the Admiralty till the
9th of August 1799. This delay had been occasioned by
his perception of many inconveniences in existing docks,
especially in regard to the shoring of ships ; that is, the
affording them support when in dock, by shores carried
from the steps or altars at the sides of the dock. He had

L 2

148 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

bestowed much time in investigating the form best adapted
for this business. But there was another and a more
important novelty in his plan ; it was the increasing the
depth of the dock sufficiently to admit a ship of the
deepest draught of water that could come into the harbour,
and the making the dock capable of receiving such a ship
with all in.

The taking a ship of the line into dock with all in,
that is, with her armament and all her stores (excepting
powder) on board, with her masts and rigging also as she
came in from sea, was an operation too daring in appear-
ance even for him to propose without previous preparation.
He had accordingly, early in the preceding year, obtained
an official inquiry from the Admiralty to Captain Grore,
as to whether he had ever witnessed such a practice.
The Captain stated officially in reply, that he had, at the
Caraccas, seen a ship of the line taken into dock with all
in. The Inspector- General had in his evidence to the
Committee on Finance stated this fact, and that a similar
practice in our own dockyards was habitual in regard to
frigates.

The importance of such an innovation may not at first
sight seem so great as in effect it really was. Ships were,
and still often are, taken into dock merely to examine the
state of the bottom, sometimes without anything being-
found amiss, frequently requiring nothing more than to
scrub off weeds and filth, or to replace a sheet or two of
sheathing, the work of perhaps only a few hours. But
the clearing a ship of the line of her stores to lighten her,
as was then the constant practice before taking her into
dock, was work for all her crew for perhaps five or six
days. If that crew consisted of but 700 men, and their
cost in Wages and provisions at no more than two shillings a
day, this for five days, and for five more to put the stores on
board again, would together amount to no less a sum than
7001. In dismantling a ship, too, the loss on the stores

CHOICE OF STONE IN DOCK-WOEKS. ]49

themselves, partly by embezzlement, partly by destruction
or deterioration, amounts to a very considerable sum of
money — and, above all, in time of war, there is the loss,
often an incalculable one, attendaut on keeping a ship
from service.

The kind of stone designed for the proposed dock was
Purbeck,as being much cheaper than the Portland stone, the
only kind till then used ; but for the parts of the work most
liable to injury, he introduced Scotch granite. This and the
rest of his masonry works afforded the first instance where,
in this or any other naval arsenal, attention had been paid to
the kind of stone employed. By the substitution of Purbeck
stone at Portsmouth for that of Portland, the actual saving
on each dock amounted to no less a sum than 15,000/. So
at Plymouth the savings made at his suggestion were very
considerable, by employing the marble of the country in-
stead of Purbeck paving, and the granite of the place
in lieu of Portland stone. His greatest innovation was
his proposal that its bottom " should be formed by masonry
alone, in the form of an inverted arch, without the use of
any piles or woodwork." In this instance the Navy Board
attempted to quash the plan by private means. When
these were found unsuccessful, the Navy Board officially
objected to the inverted arch, and the Inspector-General
was called upon to give his reasons for introducing it.
They proved satisfactory, and the work was executed accord-
ing to his proposal.

He also proposed the converting the north camber and
boat-pond in Portsmouth yard into two docks and a basin
for frigates. This was also objected to by the Navy Board,
but to no purpose. By the increased facilities thus pro-
vided, two docks and a basin for frigates were obtained at
an expense of less than 10,000/. Similar accommodations
could not otherwise have been obtained for less than
70,000/. or 80,000/.

It has already appeared that he had objected to the

L 3

150 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTIIAM.

plans of a new mast-pond in progress of construction when
lie first visited Portsmouth yard, and that he had proposed
by another plan to provide for the storing of the required
quantity of mast logs. Objections, as usual, were made to
this proposal. In preparing to reply to them, he became
convinced that the stowage room intended by the Board
was nowise proportioned to the different quantities and
lengths of the logs really received. In order to proceed
on sure grounds, he obtained quarterly accounts of the
receipt and expenditure of mast timber. It was a labo-
rious task to himself and his assistants to anal}\se and
make out in a tabular form the quantities of each descrip-
tion of such timber that had actually been received and
consumed each quarter ; yet, without knowing the quan-
tity of store to be provided for, it would not have been pos-
sible to decide what provision of stowage room might be
required.

He had perceived, in regard to what is called the esta-
blishment of stores (that is, the quantities to be kept alwa} r s
in store), that an essential point of consideration had been
disregarded, namely the time requisite for obtaining a
fresh supply, a point necessary to be taken into account
in providing stowage room for the average consumption.
The Navy Board, in their remonstrances against his plan,
had stated that by theirs ample provision had been made,
which would not be the case with his.

In order to ascertain this point, he classed the different
sorts of mast timber according to the consumption and to the
time required for obtaining a supply in the case of each sort ;
he then multiplied its annual consumption by the number
of years required to obtain the supply, and this he con-
sidered as the proper quantity for which stowage room
should be provided. This point, it may be observed, is not
considered in the establishment for stores in general, or
for any species of store in particular. Mast timber is kept in
mast-ponds by constructing round an excavation a number of

MAST-POXDS. 151

walled partitions, which are themselves divided horizontally
by wooden beams of sufficient strength to keep down a
range of mast timber below them, the timber being floated
in or out from the middle of the excavation when filled
with water; and the spaces between the partitions are
termed mast-locks, He found, reckoning the stowage
room by inches of diameter of wood, that by the Navy
Board's ample plan no more than 18,174 inches could be
stowed in both the old and the new ponds together, whereas
the stock to be provided for, merely the stock on hand in
the year 1797, amounted to 76,040 inches, more than four
times the quantity which the Board had provided. By his
first plan 34,806 inches would have been stowed, nearly
double the Navy Board's quantity ; but now, in consequence
of his examination of documents, he found it necessary to
make additions to his locks, so that they might contain
61,284 inches of mast timber.

When, at a visitation of this yard by the Lords of the
Admiralty in 1802, the subject of the mast-pond was dis-
cussed on the spot, every possible objection to the Inspector-
Greneral's plan was brought forward, but the advantages of
it were seen to be so prominent, that their Lordships de-
termined on its adoption. For some reason, however,
which never came to light, its execution was delayed ; but
the cause of its non-execution was surmised to be the Re-
sident Commissioner's apprehension that the mastery would
approach too near to his splendid official residence ; these
fears were groundless. But this impediment to useful
improvements by the placing of officers' houses within a
dockyard, is not the greatest mischief that has arisen from
this practice.

The Inspector-General's experimental vessels had now
(1802) been some of them between three and four years
at sea, so that their qualities in actual service by this
time might be judged of. The prejudice and opposi-
tion in regard to his engineering works, great as it was,

L 4

152 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

was still far exceeded by that shown towards his vessels.
The dockyard shipwright officers of Portsmouth yard spoke
of them openly to naval officers and seamen with the
greatest contempt, and reported on them to the Navy
Board most injuriously. These vessels had all along been
treated with unprecedented neglect ; insomuch that on
various occasions their commanders had been compelled to
make complaint to the Navy Board. It may be con-
cluded that the Inspector-General could not let such
proceedings pass unnoticed. Frequently he was under the
necessity of informing Lord Spencer of real circumstances,
very different from those adversely represented — sometimes
verbally with facts, often by letter, still more frequently
by communicating private letters from the several com-
manders, or from other persons, on the subject of these
vessels. At length, 9th August 1798, he found it neces-
sary to state officially the neglect of the first assistant of
Portsmouth yard.

This statement was made on the occasion of the return
into port of the Eling, on account of leaks. The depre-
ciating manner in which the experimental vessels were
spoken of by the dockyard officers had so prejudicial an
effect upou the crews, that the appearance of the smallest
quantity of water in them, such as would not excite atten-
tion in other ships, was sufficient in the case of these to
place their commanders under a moral obligation to return
into port. This same schooner had on a previous occasion
been returned from attendance on the Sans Pareil on account
of a leak, a foot above water, and the dockyard officers
laid her by as exhibiting signs of weakness in her con-
struction, such as to afford grounds for the condemnation
of all the vessels similarly constructed. This opinion was
said, in the dockyard report, to be pronounced in conse-
quence of an examination made by the first assistant.
An official inquiry was, therefore, made by Admiralty
order, when it turned out that neither the first assistant

EXPERIMENTAL VESSELS. 153

nor any other of the officers usually employed in such
surveys had ever been on board the Eling. The report
had farther stated that it would be necessary to take her
into dock to repair the leak. It was, however, afterwards
easily stopped whilst afloat — not by dockyard artificers,
but by the carpenter of the Arrow. The schooner then
went on a cruise to Marcon. On another occasion, when
the Eling was in port to be fitted with carronades, it again
became the duty of the first assistant to superintend the
fittings. " This superintendence he performed in the same
way as the former one — he never went on board her" In
doing the work consequent on fitting the carronades, some
scuppers forward were observed to be fitting in a manner
never permitted in other vessels, and which must evi-
dently occasion leaks. This was pointed out to those
who were doing the work, but the admonition was disre-
garded ; the scuppers thus improperly fitted did occasion
leaks ; and it was on account of a leak so caused, that the
Eling had now returned to Spithead.

Leaks on board some of the other vessels were, on exami-
nation, found to have been occasioned by circumstances
totally irrelevant to their mode of structure, and it was more
than suspected that the leaks were purposely caused, to "dish
the vessels," as a sailor was heard to declare was his inten-
tion, in regard to the cooking apparatus of the Arrow. As
to leaks in the Dart, Captain (the late Admiral) Eagget,
in November 1798, said in a private letter: "Something
like a survey has commenced, and I believe will throw a
new light upon the subject. A bolt hole has been dis-
covered open in our bottom, and a treenail one under the
filling forward on the starboard side."

These returns to port on account of trifling leaks were
particularly vexatious, as they were continually represented
as proofs of the weakness of these vessels ; and many were
the attempts made to influence Lord Spencer, and bring
on a condemnation of them. The expense incurred by

154 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

petty repairs was also much insisted on; it was rendered
considerable by the neglect of dockyard officers, for when
anything was required for the vessel, the work was left to
the workmen uncontrolled, and uninspected by any of the
officers. The Inspector-General, convinced of the strength
of these vessels and of their other good properties, con-
tented himself for the present with exhibiting to their
Lordships from time to time the conduct of the dockyard
officers, and to Lord Spencer such well-authenticated par-
ticulars as might induce him to employ them in the most
exposed and active service, feeling sure from experience
that the more severe the trials, the greater would their
superiority be found to be.

Lord Spencer, having determined on a reform in the
management of the dockyards, and having charged the
Inspector-General with the business of preparing funda-
mental regulations, as to the management of timber in
particular, began by requesting, on the 5th of June, to
be furnished with accounts of the receipt and expenditure
of timber for a year. They were accordingly sent in
forthwith. From this time he employed every spare hour
in an investigation of the mischiefs and inconveniences of
the actual system. He entered into numberless minutiae
of practice as existing at the most important of our ports,
Portsmouth, and where of all the ports the practice was
least objectionable. The labour was the greater as he
would not take information upon trust. He repeatedly
attended the musters to witness himself how easily now, as
when he himself was apprentice at Chatham, the absence of
a man might be overlooked, both unwittingly or often
wilfully, by the muster clerk. By similar means he con-
vinced himself of actual facts on a great variety of details,
before he ventured to devise a remedy.

On the 6th May 1799, he stated that he thought it
highly expedient the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
should witness the effects produced on copper sheathing

COPPER SHEATHING STEAM PUMPS. 155

by the working of a ship at sea, as affording proof of the
imperfections, in regard to strength, of the mode of con-
struction now made use of in the structure of ships in
general. He therefore had obtained some sheets of copper
from the Tamar frigate, which had been taken off with
particular care, so as not to increase the rents or puck-
ering: of them. Considerable as these rents and that
puckering were in these sheets, they were far from being
the worst, many of the sheets on this vessel having been
rent to such a degree, that they could only be removed
in fragments. He also stated other tokens of weakness of
this vessel, and made a deep impression on their Lordships
which tended in no small degree to confirm them in the
opinion, that a new system of management would be the
only effectual remedy for this, as for other existing
evils.

In the spring of this year (1799), the steam engine and
the pumps worked by it were put to use with all the
success which the Inspector-Greneral had anticipated in
planning them. On the 7th of June Lord Hugh Seymour
accompanied him to witness this novelty. To the surprise
of all, the piston rod of the pump broke whilst at work.
The millwright who had charge of this machinery found a
broken copper nail in the packing of the pump piston, a
score in the upper rim of which proved that the nail had
passed down into the packing from above; the master
blacksmith, a working blacksmith, and all others present,
attributed the breaking of the rod to this nail. This was
one of those malicious attempts made from time to time,
to injure and bring into disrepute the Inspector-Greneral's
plans of every kind. It had been said by all, including
the Navy Board, and perhaps some members of the Superior
Board itself, that the introduction of a steam engine would
cause risings of the workmen. A very humble set of them
ceased to be employed at the pumps when this steam engine
was put to work --the drivers who had hitherto guided

156 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL EENTHAM.

the horses when pumping the reservoir. These men
considered it an irksome business, and so far from rising,
to express their joy on being rid of it, they clubbed to-
gether, and had a supper on the day the engine was first put
to work. Bentham was in fact never regardless of injury
that might be done to any workman by the adoption of
his plans; thus on the 19th he found means by which the
keeper of the old pumps could be properly compensated
for the loss of his extra pay. The treenail mooters and
sawyers had expected to suffer from the introduction of ma-
chinery, and had lately applied to him respecting their
fears, and so well were they satisfied with bis assurance
that no one should be a personal sufferer by any of his
proposals, that a murmur amongst them was no longer
heard. Their entire reliance on his promises was highly
gratifying, the more so as it was never by gratuities of any
kind that he acquired and preserved the good will of the
workmen.

A pleasurable event of another nature occurred this
month. A Eussian fleet being at the port, the admiral and
other superior officers of it waited on him, in token, they
said, of the high estimation in which he was held in their
country in remembrance of his naval and other services.
He had frequent intercourse with these officers on shore;
and when he went on the 9th to return the admiral's visit
at Spithead, not only the more usual honour awaited him
of blowing trumpets on board ship as soon as a visitor is
in sight, but he was received on board with every honour
shown to the most distinguished guests — the guard turned
out, drums beating, and so forth. He on his side wore the
military cross of St. George on the occasion, and his
sword of honour given by the Empress for his achieve-
ments in the Liman.

Convinced that the imperfections of numberless works
had resulted far more from a want of acquaintance with
minute details, than from any want of skill in the pro-

OCCUPATIONS AT PORTSMOUTH. 157

jector, the Inspector-General thought it incumbent on him
to pass much of his time at the naval ports, particularly at
Portsmouth, where, during the struggles of war, more real
business was done in the outfit and repairs of our fleets,
than was perhaps effected in all the other ports together ;
but with the rare exception of a half-holiday upon such an
extraordinary occasion as his visit to the Eussian admiral,
his whole time was occupied in business. One or two of
his assistants were usually lodged in his house. The early
morning's walk was in the Arsenal. From breakfast to
rather an early dinner hour, was generally devoted to con-
sideration of his own plans and projects. In respect to
each of them his habit was first to note the desiderata,
then the various means by which they might be attained,
comparing one mode with the other as to their respective
advantages and disadvantages, not forgetting first cost, and
whether the benefit to be derived would pay a fair interest
for the money sunk upon the work. His official letters
were also prepared at this time, all of them by himself,
as no one in his office could be depended upon for even the
commonest note — his secretary, so called, being in fact his
assistant in naval construction. As his official communi-
cations were all in writing, no small portion of his time
was requisite for this business, more especially as, with rare
exceptions, he had to answer and refute the objections
habitually made to his proposals. During meal times con-
versation with his assistants turned on the business which
was immediately the subject of investigation. A some-
what hasty dinner over, a walk to the dockyard or other
naval establishment followed, to obtain information from
officers, to search books, or to consult those who were to
clear up any doubtful- question, — artificer, labourer, pilot,
dredger, admirals, captains, ship carpenter, no matter what
description of person, so that their intelligence and truth-
fulness enabled him to gain from them information that
might be depended on. He was usually accompanied in

1.58 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTIIAM.

his walk home by some officer, and after tea there was
generally an assemblage of some two or three persons to
discuss mechanical subjects principally ; or in fine weather
a walk was often taken, to see the effects of a remarkably
high or low tide perhaps, or to take note of the haunts
and habits of dockyard men when the day's work was
over.

At this time an example is noted of the delays to which
ships were so frequently subjected at Portsmouth, and
which the works proposed by Bentham, and then in course
of execution, were designed to obviate. The Coromandel
and the Impregnable, both of them ships of the line, were
lying, their works completed, one in the south, the other
in the north dock, incapable for want of depth of water
of being undocked till the next spring tides, and if they
should happen then to be low, these ships might even
have had to wait for the spring tides next following.

During his stay at Portsmouth, in the year 1800, he in-
vestigated a great variety of subjects respecting which he
had improvements in view, and the year was fruitful in
proposals, many of which have led to immense results, to
the advantage of the public at large, no less than to that
of naval arsenals. It was in the early part of this year
that he proposed the steam dredging machine, an invention
that has been imitated and generally adopted by the public,
and which has proved as efficacious and important as he
foresaw it would become. His proposal of this apparatus,
which was calculated to raise 1000 tons of soil a day, was
dated 16th April 1800.

This proposal, with the detailed drawings of the appa-
ratus and an estimate of the cost, having been sent as
usual to the Navy Board for their observations, was there
canvassed ; and at length the machine was ordered to be
constructed. It was completed and at work for trial on
the 6th March 1802, and at regular work in Portsmouth
Harbour on the 3rd April of the same year.

STEAM DREDGIXG MACHINE. 159

The dates of this invention are particularly specified,
because lately the invention of the dredging machine has
by some one been attributed to an engineer in private
practice, whose eminence in his profession rendered it need-
less to ascribe to him works not his own ; but Sir Samuel's
machine was proposed two years before the first mention of
such a machine to the Hull Dock Company, in the year 1802,
by that engineer, and it was at work in Portsmouth dock-
yard two years before a steam engine was applied at Hull to
an old existing machine of a different construction. It was
not till some years afterwards that a dredging machine of
nearly similar construction to Sir Samuel's was used in
private works ; and it is not impossible but that the draw-
ings of his machine might have been seen by that engi-
neer, since copies of them were sent, on the 25th April
1801, to the Chairman of the Committee for the Improve-
ment of the Port of London, who had called on him for his
opinion respecting the new bridge.

The machine in question consisted of a chain of iron
buckets worked by a steam engine. The boiler of the
steam engine was made of wood instead of metal, the fire-
place and flues only being of iron, and all of them sur-
rounded with water. This wooden boiler lasted twenty
years, having during that period been once new topped.
A similar boiler for the second dredging machine lasted
only six years, the former one having been made in Ports-
mouth dockyard, the other by contract.

When one of Sir Samuel's dredging machines, at a later
period, was working off Sheerness to depths frequently of
twenty -eight feet, he was desirous of ascertaining the exact
cost of digging and raising soil. It appeared from the
details of daily expenditure, joined to an ample percentage
allowed for capital sunk and for wear and tear of the appa-
ratus, that the expense for raising soil was less than one
penny per ton.

On the 8th April he submitted a plan for the enlarge-

160 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

ment of the Marine Barracks at Chatham, which was
approved ; but when he proposed a draught of form of con-
tract for the works, the Navy Board applied for a statement
of the quantities of materials of each description required.
This led to a letter from him, in which he observed in the
first place that the drawings were such as to afford suffi-
cient information, and stated, as his reason for not giving
those particulars, his desire to ascertain by comparison
which of the tenders would on the whole be the most ad-
vantageous. Amongst the many fraudulent practices in
making tenders for works to be done by contract, was that
of setting down at low prices those articles of which the
quantities required were small, and at high prices those
articles of which the quantities required would be great.
The practice at the Navy Board was to add the prices to-
gether of the several items, without regard to quantity,
and to accept the lowest as it appeared by an average
thus made. But by this contrivance of contractors, a
tender often on the face of it appeared the lowest,
although perhaps upon the whole contract that lowest-
looking one might in fact be the most exorbitant. His
perseverance did effect a salutary reform in this respect as
to architectural works ; but as to contracts generally, his
endeavours to the last were ineffectual to the crushing of
this hydra-headed monster.

Impressed with the insufficiency of our naval arsenals on
the eastern coast, and with the extravagance of keeping
up petty establishments, such as that of the dock}^ard at
Deptford, he, as early as August 1799, suggested to Lord
Spencer the giving up of that dockyard, and of providing
a new system of naval establishments " somewhere north of
the Forelands," and on further consideration of the subject,
he addressed a letter to the Admiralty, 19th April 1800,
in which he submitted various circumstances showing the
expediency of gradually forming a naval arsenal on the
Isle of Grain.

SHEERXESS HARBOUR. 161

The discussions which have of late taken place respecting
the abandonment at one time of Deptford yard, and the
subsequent re-establishment of a staff of officers there, may
render the Inspector-Greneral's letter the more interesting,
since it exhibits grounds on which an opinion may be
formed respecting our eastern dockyards, more precise
than any others which have as yet been brought forward
on the subject. He said that: "With regard to the dock-
yards of Deptford, Woolwich, and Chatham, — considering
their great distance from the sea, the unavoidable diffi-
culties and delays attending the navigation of the rivers
in which they are situated, the want of a sufficient depth of
water for ships of war when in a state fit for sea, and the
want of all accommodations for ships to fit within the
precincts of either of those dockyards, — it has appeared
to me that however preat might be the sum which might
be appropriated to their improvement, still the sending a
ship from sea in time of war to either of those yards for
the purpose of refitting or repair, must occasion a much
greater expense for the performing a given quantity of
work, than if it could have been done at an outport ; and
this, independently of the much greater inefficient expense
attending the maintenance of the crews and the wear and
tear of the ship during the time it would be thus excluded
from the possibility of performing any actual service.
The consideration of these circumstances, as well as of
others of the same tendency, has convinced me that it
would be far more economical to increase the present
establishments at the outports, or to form some new ones
where ships might be refitted with all the despatch that
the nature of the work admits of, than to continue to incur
the very heavy expense which necessarily attends the em-
ploying inland dockyards for the general purposes to
which they are at present applied."

In respect to Sheerness, he stated that although the
harbour had a sufficient depth of water, and that the situ-

M

162 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

ation was well suited to the supply and repairs of fleets
destined for service in the north seas, or for the protection
of the metropolis, yet the dockyard laboured under great
and some of them irremediable disadvantages ; such as that
" the confined plan, on which that yard was first established,
has occasioned an arrangement of the docks and buildings
very ill adapted to coincide with any regular system of
accommodations on a more extensive scale."

He then stated that a situation having been long ago
pointed out to him as eligible for a dockyard on the Isle
of Grain, he made it his particular business to examine the
island itself, and to acquire all the information respect-
ing it which it was in his power to obtain at Sheerness.

The superior advantages which a naval establishment in
such a situation would have over the dockyards of Chatham,
Woolwich, and Deptford, rendered it advisable, he said,
that no more money should be spent on those dockyards
except with a view to the particular services to which they
would be in future appropriated ; namely, the building of
new ships, and giving thorough repairs to old ones, with
the exception, however, of small vessels, cutters, schooners,
&c. In regard to Deptford, the least inconvenient of any
yard, he thought it might be expedient to give a part of it
for affording additional accommodation to the victualling
establishment adjoining.

Although it might hereafter, he said, be found expedient
to increase the new naval establishment to perhaps a
greater extent than that of any of those already formed,
it did not seem necessary to begin on all the points of so
extensive a plan at once. He would rather propose the
completing first for use, so as to accord with the general
plan, a single dock capable of receiving the largest ship
at the greatest depth of water, looking upon this esta-
blishment as an appendage to Sheerness ; but as that
port, already much out of repair, became less and less fit
for use, the works in Grain might be extended until it

DEATH OF MR. BOTCE. 163

should eventually supersede the port of Sheerness. Earl
Spencer, with whom the need of a naval arsenal north of
the Forelands had been discussed in the preceding year,
remained but a few months in office after this proposal was
made. The Earl of St. Vincent, who succeeded him as
First Lord of the Admiralty, considered it as highly de-
sirable, and in his visitation of the naval arsenals in 1802,
he himself examined with great attention the part of the
Isle of Grain which had been pointed out.

Sir Samuel, in consequence, received orders to have the
ground examined. It turned out that the ground, though
on a good subsoil, was soft to a considerable depth. This
rendered it advisable that the first work should be a part
of the proposed canal, and that the basin should be formed.
The expense to be thus incurred was greater than his lord-
ship was disposed to encounter, at that moment of war and
financial pressure. But what in fact operated the most
powerfully against the immediate adoption of the plan, was
the unfortunate loss of a valuable officer, Mr. Bunce, archi-
tect in the Inspector-G-eneraPs office. This gentleman,
already worn out with fatigue from his excessive labours
during the visitation of the dockyards, had, in the excess
of his zeal, undertaken the surveys and borings of the
Isle of Grain, aud was seized with fever and died. This
sad event threw a damp on the proceedings, and was held
up by adversaries as proof of the unhealthiness of the
island, which, though marshy, is certainly not so objection-
able as Sheerness.

In addition to these difficulties Sir Samuel Bentham
continued to suffer much vexation from the prejudice
against his experimental vessels, but by degrees their
good qualities had manifested themselves as regarded
their strength of structure, their properties as sea boats,
and their efficiency in armament. Their form has been
in many respects copied by subsequent naval architects,
as also have many of the modes of structure with a

M 2

164 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTIIAM.

view to strength, but the prejudice against their peculiar
mode of armament still remains. An extract from a letter
of Earl Spencer on the subject of the Dart, may be accept-
able to the general reader as an example of the interest
which he took in the result of this shipbuilding experi-
ment, and of the intimate knowledge of details which he
acquired in the service over which he presided.

" Admiralty, 2$th November 1790.
" Dear Sir, — The Report of the state of the Dart is very satis-
factory, more especially as she ran foul of two ships on her way
home, and in running foul of the Vestal frigate the shock was so
great that the people on board the Vestal (not seeing anything of
the Dart afterwards) concluded she must have gone down ; one
of the Dart's men got on board the Vestal at the time.

" Yours very sincerely,

" Spencer."

The glorious victory that had been obtained in the
Liman of OtchakofT by the flotilla of small vessels which Sir
Samuel had fitted out, naturally led him to wish that his
English experimental vessels might be armed in a similar
manner; but he was aware that the heavy ordnance which
he had put on board the Russian barks would not be
tolerated in small vessels in this country. He had applied to
(xeneral Ross for howitzers for his schooner ships, but
none could be spared; he therefore confined himself to
32-pounder carronades, and to the Sadler's experimental
guns. With these guns be had been desirous of employ-
ing shells and other explosive missiles of great power ;
but from this he was dissuaded by the observation of
(reneral Ross, that as the enemy had not such in use, it
would not be well to show them the destructive powers
of such missiles. At the first arming of all the six vessels,
it may be said that very few excepting the commanders of
them could admit the expediency of fixing guns so as to

ck the recoil ; but by degrees experience of this mode
in actual warfare, soon diminished the aversion to it in

*

PKIXCIPLE OF SOX-RECOIL IX GUXXERY. 1G5

those who had had opportunities of seeing it in use. In
the expedition against Holland, some of the experimental
vessels had distinguished themselves in the Texel ; and
General Bentham, wishing that the Admiralty should be
officially informed of the real effects of non-recoil mount-
ing, requested Lord Spencer to obtain a statement of it
from the Commander. His Lordship replied :

"Admiralty, 16th September 1799.
" Dear Sir, — I have, in consequence of your letter, directed
the officers commanding your vessels who were employed in the
expedition to be called on for an official report on the effect pro-
duced by firing on the non-recoil principle ; and if it is favour-
able it will be of use in counteracting the strong prejudices which
continue to be entertained on this subject.

" Want of men has been the sole cause of the Millbrock's de-
tention, but I hope we shall soon be able to put her into activity.

" Yours very sincerely,

" Spencer."

The Inspector-G-eneral had defined what he meant by
the principle of non-recoil as follows : — " The mounting a
piece of ordnance in such manner as that it shall have no
other recoil than that wdiich takes place in consequence of
the elasticity of the materials employed to hold it; to
which may be added in sea service the yielding of the
whole vessel." " It is on this principle that mortars (the
largest pieces of ordnance), and swivel guns (the smallest),
have always been mounted ; and it is in conformity to this
principle that every one holds a musket or a fowling-piece
to his shoulder."

The most prominent advantages of this mode of mount-
ing ordnance are, shortly, that vessels too small or frail,
or being in some parts too weak to bear ordnance when
mounted so as to recoil, are sufficiently strong to bear
heavy ordnance if mounted on the principle of non-recoil.
Half the usual number of men suffice to work ordnance so
mounted. Each gun so fixed may be fired at least twice for

M 3

1G6 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

once if mounted as usual. The use of the gun is not pre-
vented by any weather, however bad. The gun can be used
however much the vessel may heel; it is in constant readi-
ness for action ; it does not jump on quick firing ; it can be
left without lashing it ; it does not require for working it
half the room necessary for the recoil of a gun; the ex-
pense of the carriage is diminished by half; the weight of
the carriage is but a third of the usual weight ; it is much
less likely to be injured in action than a carriage that
admits of recoil, and even if damaged, the gun might in
most cases be refixed notwithstanding. Advantages such
as these are sufficiently important to justify some detail in
exhibiting their reality. The official reports which Lord
Spencer had caused to be called for from the commander
of the Dart, stated that (< the Dart, on the side of the
forecastle towards the enemy, fired eighty ixmnds, without
even the breeching being at all chafed, nor the ship in the
least affected by it." The commander of the Eling reported
" that the carronades fitted on the non -recoil principle, in
his Majesty's schooner under my command, stood the firing
on the 27th August perfectly well. ... As to the
effect the cannonading had on the vessel that day, it was
nothing ; for it did not even crack the pitch in the seams,
neither was there a square of glass broken in any part of
the vessel."

The Netley schooner, during the twent} T months she was
stationed off the coast of Portugal, took no less than forty-
five vessels, of which eight were privateers — one of them
a man-of-war; and it was only in two instances that any
other English vessel had been in sight. In fact the Netley
alone had taken "more of the enemy's vessels than were
taken during the same time by all the other vessels of
war on the station. One of the prizes, a packet, had on
boa I'd, as officially stated, " a valuable cargo and 10,000/.
in cash ;" there were also valuables in gold, &c., in addition
to the cash and general cargo. It was gratifying that

THE MILLBROOK AXD THE BELLONE. 167

the commander (then Lieutenant), the late Admiral Bond,
received honourable promotion and considerable prize
money. It was said that his share of it from this vessel
alone amounted to 20,000£. The full complement of
fifty men on board the Netley, including officers, was less
than half the number that would have been required in
the ordinary mode to work sixteen 18-pounders and two
smaller guns; besides which many of the crew were at
times necessarily absent in prizes : for instance, the com-
mander says, in a letter, 20th November 1799: — "At
this moment I have not any one to take charge of a watch.
I have no midshipman ; and the master, the only person
of responsibility, is in the privateer."

The very small number of men required for the non-recoil
method of mounting artillery was fully exemplified in the
Millbrook when she engaged the Bellone. It is generally
known that the greater part of the men necessary for the
service of a gun on shipboard, are required solely for the
mere labour of drawing back the piece to the port after its
recoil on firing. The Millbrook, armed with sixteen 18-
pounders and two 12 -pounder carronades, would in the
usual mode have been allowed six men to a gun, which
together with those required for manoeuvring the vessel
would, including officers, have made a crew of at least
100 men; but the crew of the schooner on this occa-
sion amounted to no more than fortv-seven. Her
opponent, the French frigate privateer the Bellone, was
armed with thirty-six guns, most of them, if not all,
long guns, and 350 men. To quote a recorded narrative
of this brilliant action of the Millbrook, "By the time the
Bellone had fired her third broadside, the Millbrook had
discharged eleven broadsides ; and the Millbrook's carron-
ades were seemingly fired with as much precision as
quickness, for the Bellone from broadsides fell to single
guns, and showed by her sails and rigging how much she
had been cut up by the schooner's shots. At about ten

M 4

168 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

the ship's colours came down." * The Bellone had twenty
men killed, forty-five wounded ; whilst on board the Mill-
brook, though nine men were very slightly wounded, and
three more severely, not a single man ivas hilled. Here
then was positive proof of some of the most important
advantages of this mode of mounting, namely, its efficiency
in action — the small number of men required to work
the guns — the rapidity with which non-recoil guns can
be fired — and besides these advantages, the great objec-
tion that has been made to it, danger to the men, was by
this action proved to be fallacious ; not a single man was
killed in the Millbrook, although she had killed no less
than twenty of her opponent's crew. The commander
was rewarded for this glorious action by the thanks of
the Committee of Merchants at Oporto for the protection
which he had afforded to their convoy under his charge,
and these thanks were accompanied by a handsome piece
of plate. The Admiralty immediately promoted him, con-
sidering his own gallantry not less remarkable than the
superior qualities of the Millbrook.

Another of the experimental vessels, the Dart, had also
during the same year an opportunity of exhibiting her su-
perior properties, the efficiency of non-recoil, and the skill
and gallantry of her commander, Lieutenant Campbell. He
took her into Dunkirk Eoads, attacked a French 36-gun
frigate, the Desiree, in the presence and vicinity of four
other French frigates, carried her off, a new vessel, and
brought her home to an English port, to be taken into the
British service as a 40-mm frigate. Lord St. Vincent
expressed himself as considering this as even the most
brilliant of the many glorious achievements of the time.
Lieutenant Campbell was immediately promoted to post
rank.

Another quality which the Inspector-General looked

* James's "Naval History," Nov. 13th, 1800.

SUCCESS OF THE EXPEEIMEXTAL VESSELS. 169

upon as an important one for service, but which he re-
presented as too generally neglected — shallow draught of
water — was exemplified in these sloops, and which contri-
buted to Captain Campbell's success in Dunkirk Eoads.
Small draught had been found a most desirable property
of the Dart and Arrow in the passage up the Texel in the
expedition of 1799. All other vessels of the squadron of
any considerable force were necessarily left behind, whilst
these sloops worked from the Fluter to the Middlebank
because they drew only thirteen feet water. The extra-
ordinary strength of these vessels was at the same time put
to the test. The carpenter of the Dart, in his report, states :
" Our ship's draught was thirteen feet : for some miles we
had but ten or eleven feet, never more than eighteen feet
at the most ; so we were on the ground two-thirds of the
way." The bottom must necessarily have been soft, but
it may be asked what other vessels would have borne to
be pushed on for miles where the water was two or three
feet less than her draught?

170 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

CHAP. IX.

Correspondence with Lady Spencer on Reforms in the Civil Management of
the Navy — Payment of Dockyard Workmen — Principles of his new
System of Management — Report to the King in Council — Objections
urged against a Reform — Office of Master Attendant — Principle of Dock-
yard Appointments — Wages and Employment of Workmen — NaT}* Pay
Books — Education for the Civil Department of the Navy — Naval
Seminaries — Changes in the Accountant's Office — Interest of Money
sunk in Public Works — Dockyard Working Regulations — Opposition of
the Comptroller of the Nary — Official Tour to Portsmouth, Torbay, and
Plymouth — Renewed Acquaintance with the Earl of St. Vincent — Dock-
yard Abuses at Plymouth — Designs for a Breakwater — Return to
London — Opposition to the Report — The Earl of St, Vincent succeeds
Lord Spencer as First Lord of the Admiralty — The Report sanctioned in
Council, May 1801 — Suggestions for arming Vessels of War — Green-
wich Hospital — Office of Timber-Master in the Royal Dockyard —
Efforts on behalf of Convicts — Management of Timber Stores — Report
to Lord St. Vincent, February 1802 — Opposition — Commission of Naval
Inquiry — Provisional Plan for the Education of Dockyard Apprentices.

Although the services enumerated in the preceding five
years might appear to have afforded sufficient occupation
for any man's time and thoughts, they had been in fact but
subordinate to the one great end which Sir Samuel Bent-
ham had in view, that of improving the management
of civil naval concerns, which, since the year 1798, he
had been directed by Lord Spencer to consider as the
most pressing and the most important of the several
businesses in which he was concerned. The need of such
improvement was first pointed out by the Inspector-
General ; he felt that it was a hazardous undertaking, and
hardly knew how he could best break ground. His inti-
macy with Lady Spencer induced him, in the year 17 96, to
venture on the subject with her. Lady Spencer could not

LETTER TO LADY SPEXCEK. 171

be accused of interference in political decisions, nor of
meddling with her husband's department ; yet many
matters proceeded the more smoothly and more benefi-
cially for the public service by her tact in indicating what
would be agreeable, or at least tolerated, by those with
whom Lord Spencer had to act. The Inspector-GreneraFs
letter to her in the year 1796 will best give the first indi-
cations of his attempts to improve management. It runs
thus :

" Your Ladyship has not forgotten our conversation, the clay
before you left town, on the subject of certain principles of naval
economy, which, notwithstanding their importance, appear to
have been entirely neglected — a neglect which never could have
existed but from a deficiency in the mode of keeping accounts,
and which a change in that mode might effectually j>rovide
against. The interest you seemed to take in those ideas of mine,
and the severe injunction you laid me under respecting them,
increased my hopes with respect to certain important effects
which may one day or other be expected from them, and thereby
induced me to address myself to you now on a subject bearing
some relation to those ideas. Were I to address myself directly
to Lord Spencer I might appear, not without reason, to expose
myself to the imputation of meddling with matters beyond my
province.

" The case is simply this: I feel myself persuaded that I shall,
in the course of a short time, be able to make it appear most
clearly and decidedly to Lord Spencer, and to every other zealous
and intelligent well-wisher to his Majesty's service, that the
accounts and mode of management with respect to the expendi-
ture will require to undergo certain alterations.

" Before you accuse me of the rao;e of fancy in sr nobody knows
anything but myself, you will have the charity to consider in
what respects, and to what a degree, my situation differs from
that of anybody else. Having all sources of information laid open
to me, and leisure for the investigation of the reasons on which
any given practice can be supposed to be founded, I have
nothing to do but to suggest improvements ; and to a man in my
situation, common sense must be wanting if he had not improve-
ments to suggest.

172 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

" In excuse for my troubling you with such a letter, let me
once more observe that your Ladyship is the only person to
whom I dare address myself on such a subject."

It has been seen that the Insnector-Greneral had com-
municated instances to Lord Spencer of enormous waste of
timber by extravagant conversion — that he had exhibited
to the Committee on Finance a variety of cases in which
want of economy was habitual in the dockyards. Lord
Spencer, though at the first moment he felt that exposure
of such bad management might occasion dissensions with
the Navy Board, yet was himself perfectly convinced of
the need for reform — a "radical reform," as he himself
expressed it in a letter to the Inspector-Greneral. In a
few days after the first excitement caused by the Inspector-
G-eneral's report to the Committee on Finance, his Lord-
ship often discussed generally the means by which reform
might be effected, and not long afterwards directed him
to devote himself exclusively to this business — an in-
junction which could not however be complied with lite-
rally, while he had also to prosecute the vast engineering
works which he had suggested, to introduce machinery,
besides the ordinary duties of reporting on all proposal*
referred to him, and to attend more or less even to trifling
details in the architectural and mechanical departments of
his office, under the ever present sense of his individual
responsibility.

The works which he had proposed were no small
calls upon his time and attention, even after they were
ordered, since the dockyard officers, so far from forward-
ing them with good will, threw numberless petty obsta-
cles in the way of their execution. Lord Spencer, well
aware of this, and also of the impediments to the speedy
and economical refit of vessels of war coming into Ports-
mouth for repair, had determined on the first occasion of a
vacancy to appoint Mr. Henry Peake to the important
post of principal shipwright officer in that yard; but
the Navy Board circulated a report that the consequent

LETTER FROM LADY SPEXCER. 173

appointment and change of officers in the several yards
would not be according to their wishes. The Inspector-
General, feeling generally how greatly the service would
thus suffer, being then at Portsmouth, wrote to Lady
Spencer in a doleful strain. Her Ladyship's answer does
honour to her lord and to herself, no less than to General
Bentham. To his letter, 11th July 1799, she replied:

" Wimbledon, 13th July 1799.

" I am much mortified to find that all my persevering, hearty,
eloquent scolds, have been entirely thrown away upon you, —
and that you are as bad as ever, fretting, plaguing, worrying
yourself to death, about what ? — about nothing. You are incor-
rigible, I fear, and therefore I will not lecture you any more —
rather a fortunate resolution for me to have adopted just now in
your favour, — since I am here, perfectly idle, having nothing to
call me away, and having plenty of paper, pens, and ink to make
use of — had I not resolved not to scold, how all these circum-
stances would have acted against you !

"I don't know which is the worst, — you, or your man Peake,
— not an ounce of patience falls to either of your shares — but what
vou want in this quality, you make up in a superabundant
quantity of imagination, and you create bugbears of every kind
with a fertility truly surprising. All this long circumstantial
detail of dockyard arrangements is an instance in point ; — not
one word of it is founded in fact, but is a mess of your own cook-
ing, for the sole purpose of disturbing your own peace and
tranquillity, and of calling one away from Italy and the Mediter-
ranean, where I am all day long fighting by land and sea,
and gaining incredible victories. When I am so well employed,
vou really have done harm by calling me away to settle such
pitiful and inferior business as the broils of a dockyard are in
comparison. All that you wish will happen in due time, if (and
mind, I am serious) you will permit it to be put into execution,
— but if you begin to work, and to set people on their guard, you
will render the accomplishment of your wishes an impossible task
to him who is firmly resolved, if you'll let him, to do all you
want. Now, be quiet, and don't let Peake, or allow yourself to,
open your lips on this subject from henceforward, and everything
will be right, not else. — Adieu."

174 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

This letter was gratefully thus acknowledged on the
loth:

" Many, many thanks for your consolatory scoldings — but with
respect to the quantity of patience you are pleased to prescribe,
there was certainly a little slip of the pen — for ounce you meant
Tox.

" At such a time as this, I envy you exceedingly your occupa-
tion of fighting over your battles in the Mediterranean and else-
where. I think you have some obligation to us Russians.

" Unluckily for me, it was in that country I got the habit of
thinking all things possible — for I am apt to forget that this can
only be true where there is power to persevere.

" I am at the fortieth page of a letter calculated to be more
than usually interesting to the Navy Board."

In framing a new system of management for the dock-
yards, he felt it to be but an act of justice, no less than of
humanity, towards the workmen, to keep constantly in
view and provide for their well-being, in as far as was
not incompatible with the interest of the public. If by
taking away their chips, the means were withdrawn from
them of constructing cheap houses and furniture, it seemed
requisite that a reasonable compensation for them should
be granted. On the other hand, some practices on the
part of Grovernment diminished their nominal emoluments
without corresponding benefit to the public ; such, for
instance, as delaying the pay of working men till the end
of three months. Hence the workmen were forced to
have recourse to money lenders, giving them as security a
power to draw their pay at the quarter's end. The loss to
the men was not confined to the interest in money re-
quired by the " dealers," as the lenders were called, but
the loss was greatly increased when the loan was furnished
in goods instead of cash ; a lot of shoes, or of bread, — the
shoes not fitting either the man or any of his family, and

my more than were required for their wear, — the new
bread, besides its superabundance, becoming stale and

REFORMS IN NAVAL MANAGEMENT. 175

mouldy if kept, so that the poor dockyard people some-
times were thus receiving little more in value to them
than perhaps half their pay. The details of information
on this and many other points which the Inspector-Oreneral
considered essential to ascertain before he could venture
to suggest a change, occasioned much delay in drawing up
new regulations ; but early in the year 1800, after two
years of patient labour, he had made up his mind as to
the general principles on which they should be founded,
and had made great progress in the details of the system
which he had to propose.

The general principles on which he grounded his new

regulations were —

1st. Individual responsibility throughout all the sub-
ordinate departments.

2nd. Choice of subordinates left as much as possible to
the superior of each branch of business.

3rd. Total separation of the controlling or accountant
from the operative duties.

4th. Employment of each individual to be registered.

5th. Immediate transmission to the Navy Board of the
minutes of all transactions which are to form the data on
which bills are to be made out or wages paid.

6th. Z7)icertainty as to what particular man would be
the witness employed as a check on certain transactions,
namely, all those in which personal interest can be sup-
posed to stand in opposition to duty.

The Admiralty the authority that is to order every-
thing-.

The superior operative officer at each port the instru-
ment by which everything is to be done.

The Commissioner of a dockyard the eye by which the
superior Board is to see whether things be done well
or ill.

The Navy Board the check upon all expenditure. The
Clerk of the Cheque their instrument by whom they are to

176 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

be informed of all expenses incurred, and to be assured of
the reality of appropriation to use of goods or money.

These principles were widely different from those on
which the business of the dockyards was. then, or indeed
is still, conducted. There was not then, nor is there now,
any one individual really responsible for any transaction,
operative or accountant. The superior of a dock}-ard had
no choice amongst his subordinate officers as to whom he
should assign any specific duty. The minutes of all trans-
actions remained in the dockyards, to be concocted so as
to exhibit a fair face, before accounts of them were trans-
mitted to the Navy Board. There was no register show-
ing how each man was employed. The clerks emplo}^ed
as witnesses of transactions, such as the musters of the
men, were always one and the same for each transaction
of the same nature.

The above short statement of principles indicates that a
future great change of the Navy Board was projected,
particularly that it should be no longer implicated in the
direction of works, so that they might neither feel, nor be
supposed to feel, a bias in favour of any particular opera-
tion, but become really free and impartial investigators of
that important branch of service (the accountant), including
the exposition of the means by which any effect had been
produced, and a comparison of the cost at which any given
effect had been obtained under different circumstances and
different managements.

The Admiralty being at this period much pressed by
members of the late Committee on Finance, as also by the
House of Commons, to make their report on the dock-
yards in conformity to the order of 1792, the Inspector-
General's sketch of a new system of management took
the form of a report to the King in Council. The Secretary
of the Admiralty had at first been charged with the business
of drawing up a report in obedience to that order, but he
had had little leisure to bestow upon it, and latterly, more-

EEPOET TO THE KING IN COUNCIL. 177

over, became so well convinced of the Inspector-General's
more intimate knowledge of the real business of a dock-
yard, that he now was happy to transfer this duty to him.
They acted, however, as coadjutors, General Bentham as
he proceeded taking his papers to Mr. Nepeau, and reading
over the articles which he had prepared ; comments upon
them were jointly made as seemed desirable. A copy of
this report still remains in MS. in which insertions by
Mr. Nepean are made wherever he thought it desirable
to change either the matter or the expression. That
MS. proves how very rarely he conceived any alteration
necessary. The sketch was then put into the hands of the
First Lord, who, after considering it, approved of the
whole. The next step, at the particular request of the
Inspector-General, was to have the sketch printed, and
a copy distributed to each of the members of the Navy
Board, the Eesident Commissioners of the dockyards,
and to other persons believed either to have an interest in
the projected regulations, or to be able to give valuable
opinions respecting the proposed measures. Those several
persons were requested to make observations as to the
several items, whether for their alteration, improvement,
or omission.

Amongst the returns of these sketches was a long state-
ment written by the Comptroller of the Navy, in which he
objected to almost every change proposed. This paper,
comprising all the objections that had been made from
every other quarter, was given by Lord Spencer to the
Inspector-General, with directions to make his observa-
tions on it. He did so, of course, and drew up an answer
to the Comptroller's objections, which, in some instances,
exhibited such a want of information (on the part of the
Comptroller) as to the real mode of carrying on the busi-
ness of the dockyards, that the Inspector-General felt
averse to allow particulars to fall into the hands of clerks.
He therefore caused the fair copy of his answer, some

N

178 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

eighty pages, to be made by one of his own family, who
could be depended on for secresy. He was subsequently
directed by the First Lord to make this paper official,
which was accordingly done by letter to the Secretary of
the Admiralty, 15th July 1800.

The particulars of the Comptroller's objections, together
with the answer to them, are mostly of too little general
interest for insertion here ; yet some of the principal items
seem worth extracting. The economical and efficient
management of a naval arsenal is a subject of great im-
portance to the nation at large. Perhaps the difference
between good and bad management might amount to the
expenditure of even millions more or less in the year, and
this may be considered a far more important reason for
giving some account of this paper, than that it redounds
to the Inspector-General's credit as evincing his intimate
knowledge of dockyard concerns.

The Comptroller, in his introductory remarks, gave it
as his opinion that no change in the system of management
was necessanr, and adduces, in support of that opinion,
the Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry, 1784, the
opinion of Sir Charles Middleton, and the Select Com-
mittee on Finance, 1798. In refutation of this view of
that testimony the Inspector-General quotes the Report of
those Commissioners, who in the conclusion of it say,
" When the frauds and abuses to which we have adverted
are combined with the immense amount of expenditure for
naval services, we do not hesitate to declare that a neiv
system is indispensably necessary." In regard to Sir
Charles Middleton, the Inspector- General refers to a
paper written by him, which had contributed to the
institution of the Inspector-General's office, and which
indicates that its author was strongly impressed with a
conviction that some very great changes were indispen-
sable. As to the Committee on Finance, the evidence of
Lord Keith and of the Inspector-General was decidedly

OBJECTIONS OF THE COMPTROLLER OF THE NAVY. 179

in favour of reform, and the Committee themselves ex-
pressed their opinion that that evidence was deserving of
the attention of the Admiralty.

The Comptroller and the Inspector-Greneral differed ma-
terially as to the duties of the Eesident Commissioner. By
Bentham's plan the Commissioner was to be relieved from
many duties, such as interference in operative and manu-
facturing business, for which he could not be supposed to
be competent; but, on the other hand, he was to become
strictly responsible for many other duties capable of being
executed by any man of sound judgment and nautical
experience, at the same time receiving authority to
interfere in every transaction whenever he might feel
assured that his interposition was desirable; but he must
be willing to take upon himself responsibility by giving
his orders not verbally but in writing, and by trans-
mitting to town on the same day information that he had
so interfered. He instanced cases requiring knowledge in
naval construction, such as a commissioner could not be
expected to possess ; for instance, which of two defective
ships could in time of need be sooner got ready for
service ; whether necessary repairs to a ship could best be
effected at moorings, at a jetty, or whether the ship must
necessarily be brought into dock ; whether the hold must be
cleared or not — matters, like very many others, evidently
requiring the practical knowledge of a shipwright.

The Inspector-Greneral further observed that the Com-
missioner, though not responsible " for the due execution
of orders, may nevertheless be considered as an instrument
by whom, in the hands of the Admiralty, the existence of
any abuse may be brought to light, and the correction
of abuse be much facilitated ; whereas, were the Commis-
sioner himself to be charged with the continual direction
of the business, he would necessarily be himself implicated
in any mismanagement or abuse, and consequently, instead
of being an efficient check upon those to whom the direc-

N 2

130 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

tion of the business is intrusted, he would become himself
interested in the concealment and palliation of any errors
to which, in the first instance, he may have been led
unawares to give his sanction."

Of late years this powerful argument seems to have
been lost sight of, since the officer holding the place of
the Commissioner under the title of Superintendent, has
been by degrees more and more charged with interference
in the current operative and accountant business of a dock-
yard ; so that, although he is supposed to be the Admiralty's
instrument whereby they may discover errors, he has
become really nothing more nor less than the principal
operative officer, as also the chief accountant officer, in-
stead of being alone the Admiralty's " eye."

By the proposed new system it was the Master Ship-
wright, under the title of Surveyor, who was made respon-
sible for shipbuilding and repairing, and for all the other
manufacturing works, and who was to have under his
orders and control the whole of the officers and work-
men of the dockyard, excepting only the officers and
other persons employed in the accountant branch, which
was to be entirely separated from, and act as a check
upon, the operative branch.

The Comptroller objected to the placing this whole
business under any one man. A shipwright officer, is,
however, a man who, from his education and previous
employments, could not but be acquainted with the most
important parts of the business of a dockyard, in contra-
distinction to assigning the same duty to the Commis-
sioner, who neither from education nor experience can be
conversant with any part of the operative business of a
dockyard; but the real ground of objection, there can
hardly be a doubt, was that it interfered with the Masters-
Attendant of dockyards.

Favour to Masters-Attendant has always greatly in-
fluenced the Admiralty and the superiors of other depart-

MASTERS-ATTEND ANT OP DOCKYARDS. 181

ments under them. They are always selected from
Masters in the nav}^, and this is the only promotion to
which officers of that class can look forward as the re-
ward for eminent services on shipboard. In the navi-
gation of a ship, especially in its pilotage, the skill of
the Master is often of pre-eminent importance ; yet the
Admiralty have nothing on board ship to bestow as pro-
motion or reward to this description of, it may be said,
scientific officer beyond the change from a small vessel
to a larger one. A Master in the navy remains always a
Master ; he has no command to look forward to, like the
mere boy midshipman ; neither pennant nor flag flut-
ters in his eye, and on retirement his half-pay is not
commensurate with the importance of his duties afloat.
Considerations of this nature have excited a laudable
desire to reward this class of officers by honourable em-
ployments on shore. The place of Master-Attendant
in a dockyard is the only one suited to their former
occupations; and as there are but few such places to
bestow, the desire has always prevailed amongst the naval
members of the Admiralty and other Boards to make
these few pre-eminent in emolument as well as rank. The
Inspector-Greneral, impressed as he was with the value of
a Master's services at sea, could not assent to granting
them promotion and reward, &c, at the expense of
interference with a proper arrangement of the business
of a dockyard. But he was induced to enter very fully
into the details of that officer's duty, perhaps with a
minuteness that can only be accounted for by the dis-
position which he knew to exist of rendering the Master-
Attendant superior in rank and in emolument to all other
officers of a dockyard. He showed that the business of
this officer is in fact subservient to that of the Master
Shipwright; that most frequently the Master-Attendant
had actually to receive instructions for his guidance

N 3

382 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

from the shipwright. Whilst these subordinate duties
were assigned to him in a dockyard, the most im-
portant of those which he performed on board ship,
pilotage, was withdrawn from him when he became a
Master-Attendant, so that his knowledge of coasts and
harbours, so essential at sea, could no longer be of use on
shore, where his constant presence was the better insured
by giving him a house within the yard. In those dock-
yards where there is more than one M aster- Attendant, the
Inspector-General further stated that the business of their
department " is carried on with much more disorder and
much worse management than the business of any other
department;" "they change duties, according to their
owm division of it, every week," so that " it often happens
that they do and undo alternately what the other had
done the week before." As to what seemed the most
important article of a Master-Attendant's duty (the exa-
mination of the sails, rigging, and other boatswain's stores
on a ship's coming in from sea), new officers had, in 1795,
been appointed to do this duty, namely, the Surveying-
Masters, who were placed, not under the Masters- Attendant,
but under the Commissioner ; and although the appoint-
ment of these Masters had been to prevent waste, it was
shown how ill-suited the arrangement was to effect the
desired purpose.

The Comptroller further objected to the change proposed,
because for the Master- Attendant's business "no shipwright
officer could be qualified." How is it then that the sur-
veyors at the Navy Office were considered competent to
direct, and did direct, the Masters-Attendant at all the
dockyards ? " Yet, if the surveyors at the Navy Office had
not been qualified for this branch of duty while they were
master shipwrights on the spot where the duty is carried
on, I should not suppose that the mere circumstance of
their removal straight from the situation of a master ship-
wright in a dockyard to the superior situation of surveyor

SELECTION OF DOCKYARD OFFICERS. 183

at the Navy Office, could at once inspire them with the
requisite knowledge."

The Comptroller concludes the subj ect by observing that
" the dockyards do not at present produce persons in the
shipwright line capable of conducting so extensive a plan."
Yet, although the Comptroller looked upon the shipwright
officers as not competent to conduct the business of any
one dockyard, these very persons were the only ones
who ever became surveyors of the navy, in which situa-
tion they had the superior direction of the operative
business, not only of one, but of all the six dockyards,
and moreover of the whole navy. The Inspector-Greneral
observed, however, that "as any superiority of talents
in the management under the new svstem would become
immediately efficacious and apparent, greater discrimi-
nation of talent would in consequence appear necessary
in the selection and appointment of dockyard officers.
It might very well happen also, that some of those who
have been advanced to the higher classes before such dis-
crimination was requisite, may now be deemed unfit to
remain in them, and that some officers of this description
might, perhaps, on the introduction of individual respon-
sibility, feel their own incapacity and shrink from so
arduous a duty: whereas now, the tit and the unfit are
equally anxious to undertake any charge, because they
must have reason to suppose that any degree of unfitness
in point of intelligence under the present system may re-
main unnoticed."

Amongst the masters (Art. 19) there was introduced " an
additional officer, who may be styled a master engine-
maker, who should be a man conversant in the 'principles
of mechanics as well as in the business of a millwright,
so as to be capable of assisting the surveyor on all me-
chanical subjects." The Comptroller observed that the
propriety of this " must depend upon the extent to which
the new system of mechanics is intended to be introduced

N 4

184 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

into the dockyards." The Inspector-General leniently
supposes that the word mechanics had by mistake been
used instead of machinery, then introduced at his proposal
into Portsmouth yard. On this, he observed, "I do not
see how the propriety of introducing into the dockyards
an officer skilled in general mechanical knowledge should
at all depend on the introduction of this, or any other new
system of machinery ; since, independently of the prac-
tical knowledge necessary for the management of any
article of machinery, no well-grounded judgment can be
formed respecting the need there may be for improvement
in the shape, in the mode of putting together, or in the
fastening of any of the component parts of that very
complicated machine, a ship, without a perfect knowledge
of the principles of mechanics? He then observes that
seamen and shipwrights did all of them acquire some ideas
of mechanical causes and effects; yet that "the study of
mechanics as a science, does not necessarily constitute any
part of the education of any of the persons who are con-
cerned in the direction of the business of a dockyard."

At this day it may be difficult to conceive that a know-
ledge of the principles of mechanics should, so late as the
end of the last century, have been esteemed altogether
unnecessary in a dockyard. But so it was — there were
doubtless some rare examples, amongst the officers, of men
who might have acquired some knowledge of those prin-
ciples; but it has not been till after the exertions of
General Bentham, that a knowledge of mathematics and
of the principles of mechanics has come to be regarded
as essential to the naval architect.

Article 29 of the sketch related to the working men.
" In order that such encouragement be held out to them,
as shall afford sufficient inducement to every individual to
exert himself continually in the performance of his work
in the best manner he is able, according to the directions
of his superiors, and that this may be effected at the least

REGULATIONS RELATING TO THE WORKMEN. 18.5

expense to the public, we propose " principally " that the
artificers be arranged under as few denominations as pos-
sible;" "that the artificers of each denomination be
divided into not less than two, and generally into three
classes, according to their degrees of ability, diligence, and
good behaviour;" "that the pay allotted to each of these
classes be different ; " " that the classification be made
anew every year;" "that the pay be proportioned to the
number of working hours, winter and summer;" "that
ten hours of work be considered as a day's work, excepting
only in winter with regard to such work as cannot be done
by candlelight ;" "that the artificers or others, when wages
are reckoned by the day, be paid at the end of every week,
and that the payment be made clear of all deductions and
fees."

In reference to these articles, the Comptroller observes :
"I do not see that any alteration in the present mode
would have much use. The work is carried on chiefly by
task and job, and performed by men in companies."

The subterfuges and falsifications habitually employed
in order to produce an apparent conformity to regulations
as to the pay of artificers, afford abundant proof of the
great need which existed of a reform of the system of
management; and the Comptroller's assertion as to the
manner in which work was carried on, is a glaring instance
of his ignorance as to the real transactions of a dockyard,
and of the regulations and orders by which superior officers
are habitually restrained.

A part of the work was, it is true, done by task, that is
paid by the piece, but so small a proportion that, taking
Portsmouth yard as an example, only four companies of
shipwrights out of " the forty-three employed there were
task companies. These companies were allowed peculiar
privileges ; they had a right to exclude from amongst them
all men whom they conceived to be inferior workmen,
idlers, or too old to do a hard day's work, so that the task

186 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

companies consisted of prime men alone. Their work was
almost exclusively building new ships, or making such
great repairs of old ones as admitted of accurate delinea-
ment of the work to be done. Their privilege of rejecting
men could not but have a prejudicial moral influence on
the thirty-nine other companies, but otherwise it might be
considered as highly advantageous.

The thirty-nine companies which were employed in the
repairs and fittings of vessels, which constitutes the greater
part of the work in times of war, were paid by what was
called the job — or, as falsely supposed by the Comp-
troller, in proportion to the work done by them at prices
paid by the surveyors of the Navy. In point of fact they
were paid, not according to the quantity of work executed,
but at the paid rate of 4s. 2cZ. for a day's work. Accounts
of work done by job were regularly sent up to the sur-
veyor's office, and there the prices for it were corrected ;
but as " there is a standing order of the Navy Board which
forbids the Clerk of the Cheque to set down the earnings
of any man employed in job work as greater than a certain
established daily allowance" (4s. 2d.) "this extent of earn-
ings to which it has been thought fit to limit the most in-
dustrious, has become the exact uniform greatest allowance
which every man employed in job work is allowed to re-
ceive." By falsifications of various descriptions, the most
laborious, the best skilled, the idle, the infirm, those
employed on regular work at the dock side, or those
buffeted about half their time in going out to Spithead,
all were made to appear in the books to have done work of
the same value, 4s. 2d., neither more nor less. Thus, " by
falsification continually connived at, such an uniformity is
given to this mode of payment by the piece, as may, on a
hasty view of the subject, appear to be the result of the
utmost perfection in management." " In justice, however,
to the good disposition and willing industry of many of
the artificers themselves, as well as to the zealous alacrity

JOB AND TASK WORK. 187

of some of the officers, it seems proper I should state
that in several instances which have come within my
knowledge, a company, or more, of shipwrights have in
cases of emergency been induced by their officers to exert
themselves in so extraordinary a degree, that, reckoning
the value of the work done at the allowed rates, the real
earnings have amounted for some days successively, to ten,
twelve, or fifteen shillings a day for each man ; yet these
industrious men received no more than the exact stipulated
rate of payment, and consequently no more than what is
allowed to the most idle." He then stated that, on some
occasions, falsification of the job notes not only made the
quantity of work appear greater than it really was, but
that sometimes the shipwright officers thought it prudent
to suppress altogether mention of some articles of work that
had actually been done. The Inspector-Greneral's intimate
knowledge of what really took place in the dockyards
enabled him to state many other mischievous effects that
had resulted from this mode of payment.

The observations on the Comptroller's objections were,
at Lord Spencer's desire, furnished to him piecemeal, as
they were written. The statements respecting job work
appeared so extraordinary both to Lord Spencer and to
Mr. Nepean, that as an unusual favour they obtained for
the latter from the Navy Office the loan of a pay book for
each dockyard, and in confidence they were intrusted to
the Inspector-General for examination. These books were
kept secret and sacred at the Navy Office, and well they
might be, for although the Inspector-Greneral in the course
of his investigations had been led to suspect that the pay
books were not altogether so satisfactory as they had been
represented to him,- yet " On my first inspection of these
books, I must confess, that notwithstanding all I had
already witnessed in regard to the keeping of dockyard
books, my astonishment was very great, for never before
; had I seen the existence of such scaring instances of inac-

188 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTIIAM.

curacy and inefficiency." He noted and extracted for his
Lordship's information the general dissimilarity in the
manner of keeping these books in the different yards, and
" the glaring incorrectness, falsifications, and abuses that
present themselves on a bare inspection of the books."
" As to the falsification and abuse of the setting down pay
for a far greater time than had been worked, nay, even to the
amount of double what could possibly be worked, I found
it regularly and officially tolerated — I might say, autho-
rised." Artificers in a dockyard, when quite worn out,
or discharged after long service, have usually a superannu-
ation allowance granted them ; but not a fixed one either
as to amount or to the time of its commencement. His
views on the subject were the giving a fixed but low
annuity commencing at a rather early age, increasing the
amount of it every five years, till at last it should be suffi-
cient really to provide for the wants of an old man. As
the small annuity in earlier years could not suffice for entire
maintenance, he would have forbidden the recipient from
the moment of its acceptance to work at day pay, but
would have allowed and encouraged him to continue his
labours at any of the works which could fairly be paid
for by the piece. As any such measure would, at that
time, have been regarded as visionary, he confined himself
to proposing a fixed superannuation. The making this
allowance adequate to a man's maintenance, he said, would,
in fact, be a saving to the public, who " would no longer
suffer, as at present, in consequence of the retention, from
motives of humanity, of infirm men in the service after
they have ceased to be able to earn their pay ; but who, if
discharged according to the present system, would be left
destitute of the means of subsistence." Many such infirm
men are still retained in the service at day pay, receiving
from 60/. to 70/. a year.

Art. 45 to 51 proposed naval seminaries at each of the

NAVAL SEMINAEIES. 189

four principal dockyards, to which the Comptroller ob-
jected altogether.

During the Inspector-General's own apprenticeship to the
master shipwright at Woolwich, and afterwards at Chatham
dockyard, he had felt severely that the means which
Government employed for the education of young men
who were being trained for the civil department of the
navy, were altogether inadequate ; nor were the deficien-
cies of dockyard instruction compensated in the Naval
Academy at Portsmouth, where he had become a pupil
after his apprenticeship, so that all along, in his own in-
stance, instruction was necessarily obtained by the means
of masters and men of science in no wise connected with
government establishments. The time, too, requisite for
study was stolen ; for many an hour and many a day which
appeared in the books as if he had been at shipwright's
work, he had been really at his studies, and even absent
from the yard. He was driven to seek in foreign countries
the further information in naval architecture and the sub-
servient sciences that was not obtainable at home. On
his return to this country he found the same deficiency in
naval education, which w 7 as the more extraordinary, as
during his absence very great advances had been made in
the application of science to the improvement of private
manufacturing concerns. The establishment of naval
seminaries had, therefore, been amongst the first measures
of improvement that he had suggested to Lord Spencer,
and with his approbation he arranged the outlines of a
plan of them.

The plan embraced both manual and scientific instruc-
tion in every art and science subservient to the creation,
maintenance, and efficiency of his Majesty's vessels of war,
exclusive only of strictly military matters, and military
knowledge in naval warfare.

The pupils were divided into three distinct classes in

190 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

point of rank, the education in each class being suited to
the station in life which the pupils were afterwards likely to
fill. The first class was to consist principally of sons of
superior military and civil officers ; the second class prin-
cipally of sons of warrant officers, of master workmen, of
clerks, and others who in general estimation might be con-
sidered of the same rank in society at large ; the third class
of sons of workmen, or of boys to be reared as workmen or
as seamen.

General arrangements conducive to health, strength,
and cleanliness, as also general fundamental instruction in
religion and morality, were to be pr®vided for all classes
alike.

Means of acquiring all the information, and even accom-
plishments, usual in a liberal education, were to be pro-
vided for the first class, and to a certain extent for the
second, including, of course, classical education.

To do away with the feeling of thraldom so unfortu-
nately frequent in all apprenticeships, it was intended
that in each class the friends of a pupil might redeem him
at any time on payment of a fixed sum, sufficient to reim-
burse to Grovernment the expense incurred yearly on his
account.

Considering that in the naval civil service the highest
officers, the surve} 7 ors, had first served their time as work-
ing shipwrights, and had risen from that inferior grade
through many different ranks of dockyard officers — that
in private life, many amongst the most distinguished in
liberal professions, as well as in manufacturing concerns, had
risen by their talents from very inferior stations to wealth,
honours, and high rank in society — means were proposed
by which in these seminaries some few of the lower
classes might, by superior acquirements, attain the first-
steps to similar eminence ; so that at examinations at fixed
periods the most distinguished pupil of the third class
should be raised to the second, and so on, provided that

OUTLINES OF THE PROPOSAL. 191

i

he should also have satisfactory testimonials of general
good behaviour.

On calculation of what had hitherto been paid in the
dockyards for wages to apprentices, and of the value of
work to be expected from younger boys in light works —
as peg-making, line-spinning, boat-building, &c. — it ap-
peared that the expenses of the second and third classes
would be more than repaid by the value of their labour.
The first class was intended to afford an almost gratuitous
education to the small number of pupils of which it was
to consist, and was considered as placing in the hands of
the Admiralty means of assisting meritorious officers of
the higher ranks, when they happened to have large
families. Indeed, in specific cases, it was intended that
sons of officers should be admitted to the seminary as a
matter of course — such as those of officers killed in action.
Details of this nature the Inspector-General did not pre-
sume to decide ; he merely considered this part of his pro-
posal as the broad outline of assistance that might be thus
afforded at little cost to meritorious servants of the public.
But however much the liberality of Government might be
extended, he felt assured that the third class would more
than repay its own expenses. Whether in the higher
classes pupils should be admitted or not, on paying the
actual expenses incurred on their account, was a point of
secondary consideration.

A peculiarity of these seminaries as proposed, was that
of giving, particularly to the third class, two different
callings by which a livelihood might be earned. Generally
speaking, seamanship was intended as the secondary
means. For this, and many other important reasons, it
was intended that the greater part of the pupils should
pass a portion of their time on shipboard, in the navi-
gation of vessels used exclusively for dockyard service more
particularly, in which, whilst they might acquire sea legs
and somewhat of a seaman's skill, attention to their moral

192 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTIIAM.

conduct and industry might be provided for by a judicious
choice of the masters of those vessels.

To these seminaries the Comptroller vaguely objected
the necessity of " keeping down " the expenses of a dock-
yard, and that by increasing the number of men com-
petent to perform the work carried on in it, the artificers
would "become more refractory and difficult to be kept
in order." As to the latter objection, it is well known
that an increase of the number of workpeople in any busi-
ness is the most effectual bar to combinations. The se-
minaries were intended to rear a greater number of
shipwrights than were ever likely to be required for the
dockyards ; no engagement was intended that employment
should be found for them when out of their time ; there-
fore the idea that because they were shipwrights each in-
dividual of them was of importance to the State would
no longer exist ; and as to the then present stock of these
artificers, the prospect of so great a number coming on to
supply their place, w T ould not fail of rendering them much
more orderly and tractable.

Although this plan was in the year 1800 in preparation
to be acted upon, it has never been more than partially
carried into effect. A limited establishment of superior
apprentices was a few years afterwards formed in Ports-
mouth yard, and exhibited in practice several of the
peculiarities which the Inspector-General had proposed.
Several of the young men so educated have since been
distinguished for their superior attainments; but in the
successive changes of administration this establishment
was abolished. The consequence of the continued want
of appropriate and scientific instruction has been that the
Naval Department have felt themselves obliged to call in

-i stance from the Department of Military Engineers, many
of whose officers fill several important scientific institu-
tions in our naval establishments. Of late some schools
of a secondary nature have been established for shipwright

DOCKYARD ACCOUNTANT OFFICE. 193

apprentices in the dockyards, and annually the best pupil
from each yard is promoted to an establishment at Ports-
mouth where scientific instruction is afforded. Still the
education afforded never can produce the superiority which
was expected to result from the naval seminary — that is, it
never can do so without subterfuge ; for the bovs must have
served four years as working apprentices before they can
be received at Portsmouth — a boy working as an artificer
the whole day cannot possibly have time for study, so that,
unless his absence from the dock side be winked at, per-
haps encouraged, by the officers, it is next to impossible
that at the age of eighteen a lad should have acquired
scientific knowledge in either mechanics, mathematics,
chemistry, or in any other of the sciences subservient to
the business of a dockyard.

New arrangements for the accountant business of a
dockyard were proposed. The Comptroller said, in regard
to them, " It changes the manner in which the accounts
have ever been kept in the dockyards and at the Navy
Office." In reply to this, the Inspector- General stated that
he looked upon a change in the manner of keeping the
accounts as " next in importance to the introduction of in-
dividual responsibility." In support of this opinion he
brought to view particulars in proof that " in the general
system of accounts, the most important purposes to which
accounts of mercantile and manufacturing operations, such
as those of a dockyard, should be directed, have been alto-
gether overlooked," or that they did not afford the means of
ascertaining, still less for exhibiting at one view, either the
real or the whole expense of any work, and consequently
did not admit of a comparison of the expense of any
two works ; that so many were the books to be referred to,
that it would occupy a clerk's time for weeks to ascertain
to which of several works, various articles of expense pro-
perly belonged ; yet so uncertain were the results of such
examinations, that the expense of one work of which he had

o

194 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

had occasion to learn the cost, had been put down at differ-
ent times at the very different sums of 98,929^., 87,525Z.,
and 102,058^. ; and this without any intention to make the
cost of the work appear greater or less than its real
amount. In some cases this inaccuracy, in others the falsi-
fication of accounts, amongst other mischief, precluded the
possibility of coming to any well-grounded conclusion of
the expediency of any permanent work of improvement,
so that instead of calculations of savings to be effected by
it, decisions were usually based on such expressions as that
it was a necessary work, or a national work, or some
other such vague term of recommendation.

Unfortunately, to this day, the thousands and hundreds
of thousands of public money that are sunk on permanent
works, still continue to be expended without considering
the amount of savings or benefits that would result from
them. The facility with which such estimates may be
made, was proved in the instance of every permanent work
of the Inspector-General's introduction, for before propos-
ing any of them, he had entered into particulars of the
annual money value of them, and discarded many that
had presented themselves to him in an advantageous light
whenever he found on investigation that a rent of eight
per cent, at least on the capital sunk was not likely to be
obtained by their use.

Another example of the insufficiency of accounts was
the facility which they afforded of lessening the apparent
expense of a favourite work, and heaping it on some such
work as repairs. The Inspector-General had himself
witnessed falsification of accounts in this respect. Indeed
it was still practised in the year 1830 ; for in one of the
best conducted dockyards which he then visited, he saw an
artificer employed in a business not authorised by the Navy
Board, and learnt that he was so employed all the year
round. It was a useful business, indeed a necessary one ;
but that man's time must necessarily have been set down

FALSIFICATION OF ACCOUNTS. 195

to some work to which he had never done a stroke ; and
the evidence to the Select Committee, 1848, indicates
that the practice still continues of lessening the apparent
amount of favourite works.

He stated also that the accounts of the receipt and ex-
penditure of stores were as ill calculated to detect fraud
and mismanagement, as in the case of those relating to
workmanship. Improvements in these accounts have since
been made; but the total want of responsibility in the
storekeeper that the stock actually in hand should tally
with the receipts and expenditure, necessarily implies that
the agreement in quantities exists only on paper. The
stock actually existing in the storehouses was never verified.

In regard to the accounts of expenditure of money, he
said that disregard of the value of interest upon it, led to
immense losses, such as certainly never could have been
suffered bad the accounts exhibited this item. One in-
stance he noticed of an unperceived expense that had been
incurred, where a work stated to have cost but 591,891/.
had really amounted to the sum of 830,031/., consequent
on the interest of the capital before the work was brought
into use.

For five-and-thirty years Sir Samuel Bentham continued
to bring to notice the losses incurred from a disregard of
interest on money, upon every possible occasion, and in a
great variety of forms, from the time of the Committee on
Finance, 1798, to that in 1828, and to the Admiralty again
in 1831 — yet it has not attracted the attention of the
House of Commons. It is not only in the Naval Depart-
ment that this item is neglected, but it may be said that
interest of money is disregarded in all the departments of
government. It is true that very lately the cavillers against
manufacturing articles on Government account, have
brought forward the non-attention to interest on capital
sunk, as an objection to such measures, and it is possible
that the outcry of the interested and discontented may

o 2

196 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BETsTHAM.

produce improvement in this respect, although Bentham's
strenuous endeavours for so long a series of years could
not effect it, and this though he had shown the prac-
ticability and facility of bringing interest to account in
the manufacturing concerns under his direction, in which
he had had the disbursement uncontrolled, but not un-
watched, of about a million of money.

The measures to which the Comptroller objected were,
that the accountant branch should be committed to a dis-
tinct set of officers ; that the accounts of all works per-
formed should be so framed as to show the expense in-
curred for each separate part of the work, so that it might
be compared with previous estimates for similar works
under different management, and with the supposed value
of expected benefit ; that the books kept in the dockyards
should exhibit all facts ; but that all comparisons should
be made at the Navy Office in town. The Inspector-
General concluded his observations respecting accounts by
saying that, for the reasons which he had adduced, " I can-
not, on my part, but look upon a gradual alteration of
the mode of keeping accounts, as well in the Navy Office
as in the dockyards, as essential to an improved system of
management."

That the Inspector-General's strong assertions of abuses
and mismanagement were founded on fact, there cannot be
a doubt. No denial of them was ever attempted by either
the Comptroller, the Navy Board, or the dockyard officers,
although all of these officers had shown themselves adverse
to his plans of improvement, and for the most part still
continued willing and ready to object to his proposals, and
to deny their utility. The answer to the Comptroller's
objections, as soon as it was made official, became very
generally known amongst the officers whose duties it con-
cerned, so that had it been possible to invalidate his asser-
tions, there can be no doubt that they would have been
contradicted and their falsehood prominently brought out.

OPPOSITION OF THE COMPTROLLER OF THE NAVY. 197

But it was not only in the written paper that the
Comptroller made objections to the proposed plan. On
the 18 th March 1800, Lord Spencer related to the In-
spector- General several particulars of a conversation which
he had had with the Comptroller. He had stated that
" General Bentham had set out with saying that the Resi-
dent Commissioner was to be invested with more power,
but that when he came to read the plan he found that he
could give no order whatever but by writing it" " Well,
said I " (Lord Spencer), " then we shall know what orders
he does give." Sir Andrew : " No Commissioner would
submit to giving a written order ; in fact, it was taking
the whole power out of his hands." Lord Spencer : " Not
at all, if a Commissioner had any proper orders to give."
Lord Spencer then said to the Inspector-General, " What
the Comptroller has told me of the plan (by way of finding
fault with it) I think very good."

The Comptroller had thus insisted on the particular
point, which to this moment, as it then was, is a complete
obstacle to good management, that is, the putting into the
superior officer's hands a power to interfere and give his
orders without record of them, or any means of bringing
them to light.

It has been urged of late that the expenses of our civil
naval department exceed the value of its products, but no
efficient remedy for the evil has been suggested. When-
ever the attention of Government may be seriously turned
to new arrangements of the operative and mercantile busi-
ness of a naval arsenal, even now, after the lapse of half a
century, probably nowhere would such ample and correct
data be found as in the Inspector-General's papers.

In July, on taking leave of Lord Spencer before setting
out upon an official tour, he was requested to make an
abstract of the proposed new regulations in order that it
might be shown to Mr. Pitt. This journey was to Ports-
mouth, and along the south coast from thence to Plymouth.

o 3

198 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

On visiting Torbay he formed a new arrangement of neces-
sary works, which was approved of and carried into execu-
tion. They had not required new inventions or any superior
engineering skill, but simply an inquiry into the real wants
of the service, so seldom taken into account. Thus, instead
of the pier that had been proposed, at which only five boats
could lie to water (the supply of which only amounted to
a sufficiency for that number of boats), his plan provided a
pier at which twenty-nine boats could at once fill their
casks from suitable cocks delivering water from a large
main. The pier that had been proposed was so situated
as to afford no protection to the boats in certain winds,
but by his plan perfect protection was afforded whatever
way the wind blew. To this work he added a storehouse
sufficient to contain a month's sea store of provisions for a
fleet of thirty sail of the line ; in recommending which
he observed that it could not be considered as an extra
expense, since it would supersede the construction of a
storehouse of the same extent then intended to be built at
Plymouth.

In September of this year (1800) he had the gratification
of renewing his intimacy with Admiral the Earl of St.
Vincent, to whom, while Captain Jarvis, Bentham had been
introduced while studying at Portsmouth, who, with the
fleet under his command, was lying in Torbay. During
the week that the Inspector-General remained at Brixham,
the greater part of his time was passed with his Lordship.
The proposed new management of the dockyards was dis-
cussed, and Lord St. Vincent approved altogether of the
regulations devised ; indeed, so thoroughly was he con-
vinced of their expediency, that he proposed to get some
member of the House of Commons to speak of them in
the House, so as to insure their introduction, and under-
took to manage the whole business himself if Bentham
would but consent.

This was an interesting week. Besides the weighty

RENEWED INTIMACY WITH LORD ST. VINCEXT. 199

matters discussed, Lord St. Vincent's habit of prompt de-
cision exhibited itself on many an occasion. He wanted
a guard-house to be fitted up on the instant ; the In-
spector-General undertook to do the business, but he
happened to say that he wanted the assistance of a marine
officer. His Lordship instantly called for his principal
officer of that corps. On his entering- the cabin : " There,
Colonel, that is General Bentham ; I appoint you his aid-
de-camp ; you will do everything he wishes." One day
it happened, whilst the Inspector-General was on the wharf
at Brixham, that some accident happened to a man which
rendered bleeding necessary, but the ship's surgeon, who
was there on the spot, had no lancet. At dinner, the same
day, the Inspector-General gave a hint of the occurrence,
observing: at the same time that it would not be amiss
if surgeons were obliged to carry about their instruments,
as officers did their swords. The order was instantly given,
that rt all surgeons should have their instruments always
in their pockets." In " Lord St. Vincent's Life," by the
son of his secretary, Benjamin Tucker, this anecdote is
related, with the sole difference that the origin of the
order is not mentioned, and that the word " pocket " was
changed to " about their persons," as doubtless Mr. Tucker
worded the order when he wrote it out officially.

Different plans had been proposed for some time back
for the forming a breakwater in Plymouth Sound, to
which the General's attention had been called no less by
the Lords of the Admiralty, than by the persons who had
devised those plans. It had been one subject of discussion
when he was with Lord St. Vincent in Torbay, whose only
reason in favour of any work of the kind was that the
rocky bottom of parts of the Sound was apt to injure
a ship's cables. Eough sketches of his plans still exist,
by one of which it appears that by forming a breakwater
off Causand Bay (one of the plans that had been pro-
posed) security might be afforded to a large fleet, at what

o 4

200 LIFE OF SIE SAMUEL BENTHAM.

might be called a small expense. Another one was for
damming up Catwater, and forming a breakwater on that
side of the Sound. But would the use of such a work com-
pensate for its cost ? His inquiries seemed conclusive
against the project. How many ships, he inquired, had
been wrecked or injured in the Sound ? So far as he couid
learn, never any but one vessel of war up to that time :
this vessel was a frigate, and its loss had been occasioned
by the greatest carelessness on board. The ports had been
left open in a gale of wind ; she filled and sank. After
such a result of his inquiries the eligibility of any such
breakwater at Plymouth Sound seemed too extravagant
for him to venture on its recommendation.

Notwithstanding his utmost endeavours to draw up the
abstract of the proposed report which Lord Spencer had
desired, he found it impossible to do so without entering
into the subject of changes that would be necessary in the
constitution of the Navy Board and of the other depart-
ments under the Admiralty. His chief endeavour, there-
fore, was to obtain at Plymouth many details respecting the
superior management of the Navy Board, which might
enable him not only to frame a plan for its improvement,
but to support it by facts against objections, as he had
been enabled to do in regard to the new regulations for
the dockyards. Such information could be better collected
at Plymouth than at other ports, not only because he had
here free access to all books, but because the Resident
Commissioner, and the heads of departments, civil and
military, were both intelligent and communicative.

Having collected a vast mass of information as to mal-
practices on the spot, and of the many improprieties
resulting from Board management, he returned to town.

On the 9th November, both Mr. Nepean and Lord
Spencer devoted themselves to a consideration of the
report; he read it over "from beginning to end "with
Lord Spencer, who thought the salaries low. He had

PREPARATION" OF THE REPORT. 201

been disinclined to allow fuel to the dockyard officers, but
on representation of the absolute impossibility of pre-
venting a servant from picking up a few shavings and
the cover which this would afford to real abuse, the
privilege of being provided with fuel was consented to.
The allowance which the report proposed of the sixth
of an officer's salary as pension to the widow Lord Spencer-
thought " very proper," as also that proposed for children
to the age of fourteen, but thought that to girls it should
continue to the age of twenty-one.

A new opponent to the reform of management now
came forward in the person of Admiral Young, one of the
Lords of the Admiralty. It was said of him, that he was
" laborious in the minor duties of the office, and well-mean-
ing, and not knowing exactly whom to get who would work
so hard as he does, he is allowed to have more influence
than he would be at all entitled to on any other ac-
count." The Inspector-Greneral found that the objections
made by the Admiral had been written by him in red
ink on the fair copy of the report itself. They were
answered as those of the Comptroller had been. This
produced further delay of the abbreviated report — when
Charles Abbot, as Chairman of the Committee on Finance,
who had from the first taken great interest in the pro-
posed reform, now threatened to make some motion on the
subject in Parliament. The Inspector-Gfeneral was deputed
to see Mr. Abbot "with a view to persuade him not to
make any motion in the House respecting the report.
Abbot says he has a character to support, and that if
nothing is done by Monday se'nnight he must speak."
On the 21st December, the Inspector-Greneral called on
Mr. Nepean, by his desire, to inform him of this. It
appears that Mr. Abbot did speak, for on the 30th it is
noted that " Bentham called on Nepean to justify himself
as not having had any hand in making Abbot say what he
did in the House yesterday. Nepean has not yet heard the

202 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

report mentioned in any way by Lord Spencer, but in the
Board-room to-day Sir Philip Stephens asked why it was
not brought forward."

It was now determined that a report on the dockyards
should be drawn up, but it had not been presented for the
sanction of the King in Council, when a change of admi-
nistration took place, and the Earl of St. Vincent succeeded
Earl Spencer as First Lord of the Admiralty.

The new Admiralty, having taken this report into con-
sideration, adopted it immediately, that part of the pre-
amble inclusively, which stated " that some progress was
already made in the preparation of a new system of ma-
nagement, founded on general principles of acknowledged
efficacy;" and the whole was sanctioned by the King in
Council, 21st May 1801.

At this time Lord Spencer was frequently so much
engaged that he could not give up so much time to the
Inspector-Greneral as had been customary, but he was
particularly friendly in regard to his private interests. No
allowance had been given him for travelling expenses, on
account of difficulties that had been made by the Navy
Board. On the 7th February, Lord Spencer had said that
it was highly expedient that he should now go to Ports-
mouth, and " that nothing would be done till he went
there." There was, on that same day, a report of a change
of administration, and on the 8th he learnt its truth from
Mr. Nepean, who desired him not to set out for Portsmouth
the next day as was intended. On the 9th, Lord Spencer
told him that Lord St. Vincent would probably succeed him,
and added, " You will losa nothing by the change ; Lord St.
A r incent has it in his power, and will do more for you than
it was ever in my power to do." Yet the journal expresses
much regret at the change, Lord Spencer having always
been on such friendly terms and so pleasant to do busi-
ness with.

Lord St. Vincent, on becoming the First Lord, appointed

CHANGE OF ADMINISTRATION. 203

the Inspector-General to go to him on the 16th, at half-
past seven o'clock in the morning, thus continuing the
early habits of shipboard now that he was in town. The
principal subject discussed in this interview was one of the
first importance in naval armaments. The Inspector-
Greneral ventured to urge his own ideas on a subject on
which it might be thought that so experienced and suc-
cessful an admiral would hardly bear to be lectured by
an inferior officer : he pointed out that " the force of a
ship consists in the weight of shot she can throw in a given
time." This was exhibiting the matter in a new light,
but in the course of conversation his Lordship admitted
that it was so, but i( did not think that carronades throw
far enough." The discussion ended in a permission that
the Inspector-Greneral should submit his observations on
the subject in writing: this was accordingly done by letter
22nd February 1801.

This communication, together with others on the same
subject, both before and subsequently, have doubtless been
very useful in increasing the force of our naval armaments
so immensely of late years.

But his recommendations of conclusive experiments
remain yet to be carried into effect. Experiments have
frequently been made as to some one kind of projectile, or of
one sort of gun, against some one other kind, but no such
series of experiments as he had in view has ever been
attempted. He urged that " the most advantageous
weight of ordnance for sea service on board different
classes of ships, the quantity of powder, and the species of
shot best adapted to the several purposes, cannot be ascer-
tained without a course of experiments instituted expressly
for this purpose."

He then proposed expedients by which the naval force
of the country might be immediately increased without
adding to the number of vessels of war, and which, so far
from requiring more men, would diminish the number then

204 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

employed; as, for example, in the instance of a 74-gun
ship, the men required in the proposed mode would be less
by forty-four than in the old one, though the force of the
ship would be more than doubled.

The Earl of St. Vincent at the head of the Admiralty
continued the same man that he had been at the head of
the fleet. He was as desirous as ever of introducing the
Inspector-General's plan of reform in the dockyards;
accordingly from the day of the very first interview he
indicated his intention of adopting the report that had
been signed by Earl Spencer, and even already seemed to
consider that no one could be so well acquainted as the
Inspector-General with the merits of persons already
dockyard officers, or of those whom it might be desirable
to introduce. It was not, however, on every point that
his opinions and practice coincided with those of his pre-
decessor. During the morning's conversation he said
that " Lord Spencer had made an extraordinary number
of officers " (naval officers) ; " that there are a great
number unemployed; and added that he would for him-
self make a vow not to make any one a commander,
unless for specific actions, until all the deserving ones of
those already made should be employed." It was on this
very day, and under this determination, that his Lordship
made Lieutenant Matthew Smith a commander, but it
was in reward for his brilliant action in the Millbrook
with the Bellone.

Dinner on that day was a pleasurable meal, which
Captain Smith partook of at the Inspector- General's,
when he entered into the particulars which led him to
think so highly of the Millbrook, and of her non-recoil
armament.

Lord St. Vincent continued his early habits the same as
ever. On the 6th he by appointment received the Inspector-
G-eneral at breakfast at seven o'clock ; he was punctual to
the time, and found the tea ready made. His Lordship

INTERVIEWS WITH LORD ST. YIXCEXT. 205

"showed him some papers from Mr. Pitt and Dundas
respecting a project now in contemplation for the destruc-
tion of Archangel." " Spoke of Lord Spencer's jealousy
of him (Lord St. Vincent), that no woman could be more
jealous ; that Pitt had told him that Lord S. would
rather that any other man should have succeeded him than
Lord St. Vincent." This seemed remarkable, for no symp-
tom of such a feeling had ever manifested itself in the
frequent and confidential intercourse which the Inspector-
General had had w T ith Lord Spencer ; at any rate it was a
highly estimable point in Lord St. Vincent's character,
that believing this, he should notwithstanding adopt the
plans and the persons that had been brought forward by
his predecessor. He was pleased with the plan already
made out for new bed-places in Greenwich Hospital, re-
gretted that notice had not been taken of the officers'
apartments — but the office of Inspector-General was in-
vidious enough, without his meddling uselessly with private
interests. His Lordship and the Inspector-General set out
together from Mortimer Street to walk to the Admiralty ;
they met Lord Berkeley, who was on his way, he said, to
breakfast with his Lordship — " Not at this time of day; I
am up at five o'clock every morning," said Lord St. Viucent.
Eentham asked when he would have a little time. " "Why
I have no time, but if you will dine with me on Sunday,
I will turn people away after dinner." And thus the
friendly way in which he received the Inspector-General
continued to the end of that administration.

In speaking of what ships should first be brought forward,
Lord St. Vincent observed that " without some specific
and apparent reason, I am desirous not to alter any of
Lord Spencer's arrangements," — a determination which,
if it had been adopted by subsequent Boards of Admiralty,
might have saved the expenditure of even millions of
money by this time. His Lordship observed too that the
inferior Board were " all in fear and trembling ; " " that

206 LIFE OF STR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

the great plan of alterations in the dockyards conld not
be brought forward till peace, but that would not be
long first."

The partial regulations for the dockyards having re-
ceived the sanction of the King in council, he endeavoured
to ascertain what persons would be most competent to fill
the new office of timber-master. His Lordship disclaimed
all 'patronage whatsoever, saying that " the fittest man, be
he who he will, shall be appointed to every situation in the
dockyards which he has the filling of." The habit of waste
in the instance of the costly article timber had been so
great in the royal dockyards, that the Inspector-General
proposed taking men who, though brought up in them,
had left the service for want of encouragement, and had
since been employed in private yards, where the value of
that store is known, and every piece of timber turned to
good account. This measure was approved of; but it
turned out that the emoluments in private business so
much exceeded the pay allowed by Government, that most
of the persons applied to declined accepting the proffered
places. The mistaken notion always has been, and is still
entertained, that the civil officers in the Navy Department
are overpaid, whereas the fact is that the pay is not suffi-
cient to retain men in the service, generally speaking,
whose abilities are of a superior stamp.

On the 4th July, the Inspector-General showed his
Lordship a paper which he had prepared of appointments
and removals of dockyard officers. He determined to adopt
them all. As one of the officers, from his superiority of
talents, was supposed to be a favourite with Bentham, he
spoke of putting him at a more desirable yard than the
one specified for him; this was opposed as not being "for
the good of the service," to use the cant term ; and Lord
St. Vincent was gratified by such forbearance of patronage.
Traits of character such as many of the above have not ap-
peared in the Life of the Earl of St. Vincent by Mr. Tucker,

EFFORTS ON BEHALF OF CONVICTS. 207

and their omission may furnish an apology for introducing
so many of them here.

In June of this year, the Inspector-Greneral's commise-
ration was excited by the intended treatment of some
convicts who had been sent to assist in various works in
Portsmouth dockyard. The term of punishment of some
of the most deserving of these men was to expire within
a year, yet they were now ordered for transportation to
New South Wales. He had been applied to in their
favour by officers who had witnessed their good behaviour.
When by means of a confidential person he had made
further inquiries respecting them, he felt justified in
making application to the Minister on whom their fate
depended, to have this order annulled ; but not having been
fortunate enough to find Mr. Pelham at home, he enclosed
to him a list of the deserving men in question, acquainting
him that " most, if not all, of these men have been found
so trustworthy as not only to be suffered to work without
irons or any particular inspection, but have also been
stationed to assist the guards in taking care of the rest of
the convicts." After specifying other particulars, he added :
" The transporting men of this description, besides being
evidently unjust, and productive of unnecessary expense,
seems also particularly objectionable on account of its
tendency to diminish very materially the inducement for
good behaviour in all other convicts, who cannot fail to
observe that the most meritorious conduct has only served
to single these men out for transportation, whilst numbers
of the most profligate and disorderly are suffered to remain
in the country till their terms have expired." He was
much gratified by a ready compliance with his request ;
and it is believed that these men by their future good
conduct left him no cause to regret his exertions iu their
behalf. Other convicts were afterwards employed under
his management, both at Portsmouth and Sheerness, and
he had thus an opportunity of seeing the opinion confirmed

208 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

which he had long entertained, that, without other pecu-
niary sacrifice than that of very small rewards for industry,
the most beneficial results would be obtained from constant
regular employment of such men in useful works, seclud-
ing them as much as possible from public gaze without
depriving them of intercourse with fellow-men, and by
habitually affording encouragement by an increase of
kindly treatment according to desert, as well as a separa-
tion of the meritorious from the refractory.

It may be well conceived that acquiescence in his views
of improvement and reform on the part of the new Naval
Administration was to him a source of extreme satisfaction,
more especially on account of the First Lord's intimate
acquaintance with the civil concerns of the nav}^, acquired
in a long career, during which his discerning and com-
prehensive mind had scrutinised many of the defects of
the civil no less than of the military branch of the service.
The report that had been sanctioned by the King in
Council did not, it is true, include any other part of the pro-
jected general reform than that for the better management
of timber and the abolition of the perquisite of chips ; but
Lord St. Vincent was determined that the new regulations
in these respects should be introduced and carried into
execution with the fullest force, and therefore directed the
Inspector-General to devote his attention principally to
this business. He in consequence repaired to the dock-
yard affording the greatest amount of information, Ports-
mouth, where there happened at that time to be several
officers of great ability; so that by examination of the
books, and of the practice as to timber, as well as by
discussions with those officers, he might, in addition to
his former knowledge on the subject, be well prepared to
draw up the details of management in regard to this store.
He accordingly submitted to the Admiralty, on the 26th of
December, a sketch of the instructions which he proposed
should be given to the several officers concerned in the

MANAGEMENT OF TIMBER. 209

management of timber, from its first receipt to its appro-
priation to use, as also a set of regulations in regard to it,
and forms for the accounts to be kept. These were all of
them approved and ordered to be carried into effect,
and the superintendence of the new mode of management
was committed to him individually for a term of three
months.

By these regulations " it was made the sole business of
one officer, under the title of timber-master, to direct the
converting, stowing, and sawing of the whole of the
timber, braces, planks, &c, in each dockyard, that he may
stand individually responsible for the due execution of
this trust ; and that consequently he may have the credit
or blame that may result from the comparative view of his
management with that of the other dockyards."

The accounts which he framed for this department, traced
every piece of timber from its first conversion to its final
application to use. Heretofore there had been the formality
of many signatures of superior officers; but they were falla-
cious, because those officers could but rarely know the uses
to which specific pieces had been appropriated ; and the
reports were made at periods too distant to be of use when
they reached the Navy Office. By the new mode no other
signatures could be of real avail than that of the person
who authorised the employment of any given piece of
timber, and that of the person who received it for use.
At the same time it was provided that the controlling
authority, the Navy Board, should be informed daily,
instead of at very distant periods, of all transactions in the
dockyards relative to this store. This was effected at little
cost of time or money, as the copies sent up to town were
taken by a copying press from the accounts as kept in the
dockyards.

The saving of time in account-keeping was, however,
frustrated by the Navy Board. They sent an order to the
dockyards that, besides the new accounts, others should be

p

210 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

kept in the old forms, and be sent to them in the usual
manner. Seeing the disregard in which pressed copies
were held by the Board, the clerks became careless in pre-
paring them, so that instead of those copies being of all
others the most faithful, they soon became imperfect,
scarcely legible, and consequently, useless.

In this business, as in all the Inspector-General's pro-
posed reforms of management, he looked as much on the
advantage of bringing merit to light as to that which
could arise from discovering the reverse. In point of fact,
a decree of emulation was excited in the timber-masters of
the time which fully justified his expectations on that
score, though unfortunately it was followed by no rewards ;
but he had the satisfaction of receiving assurances that by
his means most important savings of timber were effected,
and still continued to be so, as long as he had opportunities
of witnessing conversion. Of late years the stringency of
his regulations has been gradually done away with. Kespon-
sibility, instead of being individual, has been divided
amongst several new officers ; and those parts of the evi-
dence given to the Select Committee of the House of Com-
mons on Navy Estimates, 1848, indicate that extravagance
again prevails, both in the conversion of timber and in its
application to use.

The plan of introducing a clerk chosen by some uncer-
tain mode to witness the receipt of timber was looked upon
as a fanciful expedient ; but the fact was, that however
conscientious superior officers (such as storekeepers and
clerks of the survey) might be, yet the storekeeper was
often charged with stores without any previous survey of
them, and when deficiencies were discovered the facility
with which it was customary to discharge him of them
was notorious. The Inspector-General, in one of his offi-
cial statements, said, "In point of fact, that there are
abuses in the receipt of stores I am well assured. I have
heard that timber or plank to the value of some thousand

ABUSES IN THE RECEIPT OF STORES. 211

pounds has been paid for as if received in a dockyard,
although articles to so great an amount never appeared
but on paper. I am confident that such a practice has
existed." Of these assertions no denial was ever attempted,
either by the Comptroller of the Navy, the Navy Board, or
the dockyard officers, yet all these officers had objected
to the Inspector-General's representations of the need of
correcting mismanagement and abuse, and were still ready
to object to all his suggestions of improvement. He was
accused of putting leading questions to underlings, so as
to obtain false information from them. On the 19th De-
cember 1801, for instance, the Comptroller particularly
said that the Inspector-General " got the underlings about
him without the knowledge of their superiors." This was
on the occasion of his acquainting the Comptroller that in
Deptford yard it was the practice to receive mast sticks
for 20-inch masts as sticks for 21 -inch masts, and thereby
to authorise a proportionately higher price for them. The
Comptroller said that " when this information was obtained
the master shipwright should have been there." The
Inspector-General replied, "The master shipwright was
there, the storekeeper was there, the clerk of the cheque
was there, two assistants were there, the treasurer was
there, and the clerk of the cheque's clerks and the store-
keeper's clerks were there — is that enough, or should any
more have been present ? " The Comptroller bit his lips,
and said, " When the Inspector-General had given forms
for keeping accounts, he hoped he would tell them where
to buy timber."

The Admiralty Board consisted at this time partly of
old members and partly of new Lords, these being such as
Lord St. Vincent had selected from amongst the naval
officers in whom he had confidence. Mr. Nepean on
one occasion told the Inspector-General that the Board
thought him "wrong, very wrong — except, indeed, the new
ones ; these were Trowbridge, and Markham, and Tucker 3

P2

212 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

and Lord St. Vincent ; it might please them, it was true ;
but the Board thought it wrong." This was in reference
to letters of the Inspector-General pointing out instances
of mismanagement, particularly on the contract made by
the Navy Board for the carriage of beech timber to Ports-
mouth dockyard. The Inspector-General replied that
"it was his business to find fault — it was what his situa-
tion had been instituted for ; but if Mr. Nepean would tell
him how he should write, he would do so accordingly."
Mr. Nepean was indeed placed in circumstances of diffi-
culty. He had been all along strenuous in his endeavours
to introduce all of the improvements suggested by the
Inspector- General ; he had adopted all which related to
management ; but during Earl Spencer's administration
the endeavour had been to introduce them without injury
to the civil servants of the department, particularly so as
not to imply any want of probity, or otherwise to implicate
their moral conduct. Now the sea Lords, with what was
called quarter-deck habits, were too much inclined to im-
pute all imperfections to interested motives rather than
to a vicious system, and to punish with all the severity of
naval discipline.

One of the letters that had been especially objected to
by the old members of the Admiralty Board was that of
the 30th August 1801, in which he had said that in the
course of his investigations respecting the management
of timber, he had found that the Navy Board, by virtue of
several Acts of Parliament, were empowered to superintend
the preservation of growing timber in some of his Majesty's
forests, but that " this salutary interference on their part
has fallen almost wholly into disuse ; so much so, indeed,
that on inquiry at the Navy Office for a certain Act of Par-
liament mentioned by one of the purveyors as forming the
basis of his duty, the very existence of the Act did not
seem to be known at the Navy Office ;" and particularis-
ing various other sources of information, he added, that

FORESTS FOR NAVY TIMBER. 213

e *' serious evils are said to arise to his Majesty's naval
service from the present neglected state of his Majesty's
forests" — "that by a more careful attention to the exist-
ing laws and orders respecting the forests in question, a
much more abundant supply of timber for naval purposes
might be obtained from them, so much so, that in future
they might be made to afford three-fourths of the total
quantity actually consumed in all of his Majesty's dock-
yards ; and having reason to believe that even immediately
the New Forest might afford as much beech timber as the
service of this dockyard requires, as also an additional
quantity of oak." It does not appear in what respect this
letter could have been deemed offensive — unless, indeed,
members of the Navy Board should have so keenly felt
their neglect of the royal forests as to regard the mere
asking for Acts of Parliament as a reproach to them. The
Inspector-General's object was to concert with competent
persons some means by which those forests might be for
the future so managed as to afford the supply of which
they are capable ; but it would seem that although more
recently Sir W. Symonds has pointed out various particu-
lars that might practically be of good effect, yet of late
years the management in regard to them has been even
worse than it was when the Inspector-General requested
this information.

Having had occasion to notice, verbally, some of the
improprieties in the mode of providing this costly article
of store, as well as in the management of it, Lord St. Vin-
cent requested the Inspector-General to draw up a written
statement of the most prominent objections to the current
practice; this was done accordingly in February 1802.
This paper not having been officially sent to the Board is
not on record in the Admiralty books ; it points out inat-
tentions which have at all times been but too prevalent,
in regard to the provision of naval stores of every descrip-
tion as well as of timber.

p 3

214 LIFE OF SIE SAMUEL BENTHAM.

Flattering as was the dependence which the First Lord
placed in the Inspector-General, and great as was the sup-
port afforded him, yet it was with extreme difficulty that he
could regulate his conduct in such a manner as that, whilst
indicating instances of mismanagement, he should avoid
imputing blame to individuals. By some old members of
the Admiralty, and by the whole of the Navy Board, he
was looked upon as acting in a spirit hostile to them per-
sonally ; whilst by his moderation he often incurred the
displeasure of his superiors.

The letter on beech timber, addressed privately to Lord
St. Vincent, as being a recent instance of the frequent
oversights in making contracts and providing stores, was
returned to the Inspector-General with the command to
address it officially to the Secretary of the Admiralty, be-
cause he was desirous that instances of mismanagement
should stand on official record. The letter, when addressed
to Lord St. Vincent, had been prefaced with a request
that it might be " understood that it is not my intention
to impute blame to any particular individuals who may
happen to have had a part in the direction of the business
in question, persuaded as I am that however injurious to
the public service may be the instances of abuse and mis-
management I shall have to bring forward, it would
appear, on a full investigation, that they had been the
natural consequences of defects in the system of manage-
ment, rather than of any specific misconduct on the
part of the persons employed, and that there is every
reason to be assured that, — by making such changes in the
system of management as that the scrutiny of all com-
mercial as well as operative transactions shall be com-
mitted to the charge of persons distinct from those to
whom the execution is intrusted, that the due execution
of every business shall be committed to the stimulatiDg
influence of individual responsibility, and the accounts
of all transactions kept in such manner as to bring their

SCKTJTINY IN NAVAL MANAGEMENT. 215

comparative economy under observation, — all such abuses
would in future cease of course."

But Lord St. Vincent was impeded continually by the
opposition of the inferior Board, particularly by the Comp-
troller of the Navy, who really w^as of opinion that the
authorities as then constituted were competent to a due
and economical management of naval business. There
have been many changes since his time, but they have all
of them deviated further from the rules by which good
management might be expected. There is not, at this
moment, any scrutiny as to either commercial or manu-
facturing concerns, no individual responsibility, no ac-
counts that bring comparative economy under observation.
Much has of late been brought before the public as to
abuses in the naval department, but abuse is a misnomer ;
extravagances there are, but of all that have been exhi-
bited there is not one of them that had not been pre-
viously specified by Sir Samuel Bentham, accompanied by
proposals for remedying the evils ; and, to take the words
of the King in Council, as they were " founded on prin-
ciples of acknowledged efficacy," there is good reason to
conclude that if they had been adopted, they would by this
time have been the means of saving many millions of the
public money.

In January 1802, the Inspector-General requested per-
mission to obtain certain kinds of information direct from
the dockyard officers. The Comptroller attacked him on
this score, saying that he wanted to correspond with the
dockyard officers without the knowledge of the Navy
Board. To repudiate this accusation, he induced the
Comptroller to read the letter itself — the Comptroller
then said he had been told so. Thus was every act of the
Inspector-General misrepresented. He replied to the Comp-
troller, " that his object in asking to correspond with the
dockyard officers was to save the time and trouble of a
circuitous communication. Was he, when at a dockyard,

P 4

216 LIFE OP SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

and wanting information from an officer on the spot, to
have it sent first to the Navy Board and then to the Ad-
miralty before it could reach him ? Was this the readiest
way of doing business ? "

On this day (22nd January) Sir Thomas Trowbridge
came into the Admiralty, where were some of the Lords,
the Comptroller, and the Inspector-General. Sir Thomas
declared that " all the master shipwrights ought to be
hanged, every one of them, without exception." This
exclamation had been in consequence of some particulars
respecting job-notes at Sheerness. It is true that in this
respect the abuses were enormous. The Inspector-Greneral
had officially pointed them out, and the remedy for the
evil was amongst the improvements that were in progress
of establishment by the new regulations. Surely the pre-
venting the possibility of abuse by doing away with ficti-
tious job-notes altogether, as the Inspector-Greneral had
proposed, was likely to be a more efficacious remedy than
the hanging of all the half-dozen master shipwrights.

About this time great abuses came to light in regard to
extra time set down to men of Plymouth dockyard ; and
in consequence some members of the Navy Board were
going to that port with " a determination to turn out"
some of the officers and clerks. In conversation with Mr.
Tucker on the 29th, the Inspector-General could not help
observing that if they punished inferiors, they ought to go
further ; there was not a single officer in that yard, or at the
Navy Board unimplicated, " Eesident Commissioner, Navy
Board, all of them." But it appeared " that the}' do not
like to go higher than dockyard officers."

On the 18th May the Inspector-Greneral learnt that
an order had been given " for discharging shipwrights in
dockyards, and first by superannuating those who are
past their labour." A list of no more than twelve came
from Plymouth yard, being those only who had (/}>}>/ied
for superannuation. To make up the number of dismissals,

COMMISSION OF NAVAL INQUIRY. 217

the Navy Board intended to discharge the last entered ; —
of course, the young men. The Comptroller showed this
list to Lord St. Vincent. (i What," said his Lordship,
" are there no more than twelve old men in Plymouth
yard ? " " No, my lord." " Then I'll go to Plymouth
myself." His Lordship then said he should take an Ad-
miralty Board with him, that a Navy Board should also
go, and he supposed the Comptroller would go himself.
The next day Mr. Tucker told the Inspector-Greneral that
Lord St. Vincent had determined to have a commission to
examine into the abuses and mismanagement : that when
he visited the dockyards he would not enter into abuses,
but merely look about him. Thus originated the Commis-
sion of Naval Inquiry, a commission which, in its several
reports, brought such enormous abuses to light.

A letter had been written to the Inspector-Greneral on
the 28th of August of the preceding year, and then signed
by the Secretary of the Admiralty ; but it was not forwarded
to him till the 14th of March of the year 1802. It directed
him to reply to the observations of the Navy Board on the
subject of his letter concerning the extravagance resulting
from carriage of beech timber. The Navy Board charged
him with having " endeavoured to prejudice the minds of
the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, by laying before
them a 'partial representation of a transaction calculated
to make an unfavourable impression, without having made
the least previous inquiry into the real circumstances of
the case;" adding further that "had he done so, he would
have found that his whole statement originated in error?

In relation to this accusation, the Inspector-Greneral, on
the 15th April, informed their Lordships that he had made
many inquiries, and had obtained much information in
consequence. This letter afforded convincing proof, that
the transaction had been minutely investigated previously
to his first statement of it, and that his statement had
originated, not in error, but in facts officially recorded.

218 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

Observations necessarily introduced in this communication
exhibited other instances of improvidence of that Board as
a body ; but the Inspector-General added, " that had the
blame appeared to him really to attach to any one, either
at the dockyard or at the Navy Office, as it certainly is not
my duty to be the censor of any one in either of those
situations, I should not have presumed to take up their
Lordships' time with any observations on this point ;" but
that " whatever be the management, the duties of the per-
sons concerned are so ill defined, and their instructions so
insufficient, that there is no one individual on whom the
blame can be fixed."

It may seem irrelevant to the memoirs of Sir Samuel
Bentham to enter into the particulars of this transaction;
but it must be considered that down to this very moment,
(for want of some such system of management and of ac-
counts as that he advocated,) not, as he said, " hundreds of
thousands," but " millions " are imperceptibly lost annually
in the civil branch of the naval service, so that his endea-
vours to produce a salutary reform of management become
a very prominent and important feature of the services
which he rendered. The ill-will necessarily resulting to
him from a variety of persons, in consequence of his bring-
ing such malpractices to view, would have deterred men
less conscientious and less persevering. Indeed, much as
he possessed these desirable qualities, it has been seen that
during Lord Spencer's administration he sometimes would
have sunk under opposition, but for his support; and now
Lord St. Vincent's confidential secretary, Mr. Tucker, was
employed to assure him of the support of the superior
Board.

In October the service sustained what proved to be an
irreparable loss in the death of Mr. Bunce, architect in
the Inspector-General's office. Previously to the establish-
ment of the office he had been employed by Sir Samuel
in the year 1794 in drawing some of his machinery, and

SHEERNESS AXD THE ISLE OF GRAIN". 219

in that part of the designs for a Panopticon prison which
required the practical skill and experience of an architect.
Mr. Bunce's knowledge of the details of his profession, his
taste, the information which he had acquired in Italy, his
indefatigable industry and high character, led General
Bentham to wish for his assistance ; and fortunately Mr.
Bunce, from personal regard to the General, was induced
to accept the office of architect. From first to last he had
been most conscientious in the discharge of his public
duty, and his death was occasioned by his zeal. He had
attended at the different naval establishments during the
whole of the visitation which was this year held by the
Lords of the Admiralty, and his strength was already ex-
hausted when he undertook the examination of the Isle of
Grain. It was the most unhealthy season of the year ; he
caught fever, and when recovering, as it was hoped, an
unguarded expression in his presence, " that the service
was suffering from his absence,"' brought on a relapse,
under which he sank.*

As the Inspector- General's plan for affording a fitting
education to qualify young men for services in a naval ar-
senal had not yet been carried into effect, he devised a plan
for bringing up working apprentices which should be less
objectionable than the existing mode. In his proposal of
it, on the 22nd November, he recommended it only as a
provisional measure. His proposal was adopted, having
proved, as he said, " less costly than the then existing
mode, considerably more advantageous to the public ser-
vice, and more generally beneficial to the deserving arti-
ficers."

* See before, p. 163.

220 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

CHAP. X.

Tour to visit Cordage Manufactories, January 1803 — Report, and Adop-
tion of his Proposals — Treatment of Workpeople in Factories — Services
of Mr. Brunei in the Introduction of Block Machinery — Method of
rewarding Inventors — Advantages of Non-recoil Guns — Abuses in
Job Payments — Proposals for a Government Ropery, 1804 — Contracts
for Timber — Opposition of the Navy Board — Arming of the Mercantile
Marine — Timber Coynes — Dockyard Machinery at Portsmouth —
Mission to build Ships in Russia, 1805 — Arrival at Cronstadt — Diffi-
culties of his Task — Opposition of the Emperor — Illness — His Pro-
posals rejected by the Emperor — Importation of Copper for Sheathing
— Detention at St. Petersburg during the Winter — Panopticon of
Ochta — Departure from St. Petersburg — Revel — Carlscrona — Return
to England — The Office of Inspector- General of Naval Works merged
in the Navy Board.

In the course of the visitation of the dockyards, the Earl
of St. Vincent and the other Lords of the Admiralty
became fully convinced of the expediency of introducing
machinery worked by inanimate force to a great extent,
as pointed out by the Inspector-General. As he had
already overcome opposition to the introduction of steam-
engines for working wood and metal, and now contem-
plated the still more important measure of manufacturing
sailcloth and cordage on government account, he obtained
permission (January 1803) to visit manufactories in the
north, particularly of cordage.

He was fortunate in already possessing the friendship
of some of the greatest manufacturers of the kingdom,
and by their means obtained introductions to ever}'
manufactory which it seemed desirable to visit. He was

VISITS COEDAGE MANUFACTORIES. 221

much indebted to many with whom he thus made ac-
quaintance for the readiness with which they afforded
him means of examining every detail of their business,
frequently giving him access even to their account-books,
and requiring their subordinates to furnish every required
information. He thus visited Birmingham and the manu-
factories in its vicinity, including Soho ; also Liverpool,
Warrington, Manchester, Stockport, Leeds, Sunderland,
Newcastle, Castle Eden, Sheffield and Rotherham, Derby,
Warrington, Liverpool, Shrewsbury, Colebrook Dale, Co-
ventry, and many other manufacturing towns. The seven
weeks that he employed in his inquiries, though in the
depth of winter, were fully occupied from daylight in the
morning till nine or ten o'clock in the evening. For a
part of this tour he invited Mr. Brunei to accompany him,
in order to give him an insight into such management
as Sir Samuel wished to introduce at Portsmouth. Mr.
Brunei, not only at the time, but nve-and-thirty years
afterwards, expressed in writing his obligation for this
favour. Mr. Goodrich, the mechanist, also accompanied
him during the whole of the tour.

On the 18th of February, Sir Samuel, in an official
letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, informed their
Lordships that he had visited different establishments
where cordage was manufactured by machinery, the result
of which was that he had " seen reason to be entirely
convinced that cordage of all descriptions, from the smallest
twine to the largest cable, may be advantageously manu-
factured by means of machinery, such as may be set in
motion by inanimate force ; and this, with regard to all
the operations requisite, from the first preparation of the
raw material to the completion of the article for use." He
stated that the principal advantages of such a manufactory
would be a saving of half the expense of manufacturing,
that the inconvenience then experienced of obtaining a
sufficiency of ropemakers would be done away with, that

222 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTIIAM.

the quantity of cordage might be variable according to
the demand, but above all, that an uniform superiority
of cordage would be insured.

He endeavoured to prevail on various manufacturers
to attempt the weaving canvas entirely without starch
or other dressing, but failed in every instance excepting in
that of Mr. Scarth, at Castle Eden. In this factory Mr.
Scarth had introduced an arrangement of the warp which
placed it in the loom so that the roughness of the yarn
was laid in one and the same direction, whereby great
facility was obtained in beating up the fabric. This pecu-
liarity was at once seen to favour the weaving without
starch, and Mr. Scarth undertook to attempt making
some webs of canvas without the use of any stiffening
whatever.

In the course of this tour many opportunities oc-
curred of comparing the influence of management on
the well-being of the workpeople. As an instance of
care towards apprentices lodged, clothed, and fed by the
master, the flax- spinning mills of Mr. Bage, at Shrews-
bury, maybe honourably cited. The 125 apprentice girls
were strong, and in fact healthy, perhaps beyond example
in any employ or rank of life, though their business of
tending the machines kept them in a quick walk the
whole of the working time. The extraordinary healthi-
ness and apparent happiness of these girls induced par-
ticular inquiry respecting them. The women who had
the care and direction of them when not at work,
afforded every information requested, the dietary regu-
lations, the account -book of actual expenses, &c. With-
out this minute examination it could not have been
credited that these hard-working, growing girls, from
fifteen to eighteen or nineteen years of age, could have
been fed at an average of 6d. a day, having meat thrice a
week. In the same establishment a few girls were like-
wise employed in light work at day pay. The contrast

MANAGEMENT OF FACTOEIES. 223

was striking ; these latter were dirty, ragged, sickly-looking.
Both at Messrs. Strutt's and Mr. Bage's, requisite means
were taken to afford school instruction.

Sir Samuel's object in acquainting himself with actual
good management of apprentices was preparatory to enter-
ing: into the details of naval seminaries on a large scale,
still intended by Government, in conformity to his former
proposal, and to which his attention was soon afterwards
particularly called by Lord St. Vincent.

In April, Mr. Brunei having solicited the Admiralty to
grant him remuneration for the labour and expense which
he had incurred in the invention and perfecting machinery
for making blocks, their Lordships commanded the In-
spector-Greneral to consider and report what might be
proper to be done on the subject of that application.

He was aware that few instances were on record in
which remuneration had been given expressly for im-
provement, although, in point of fact, unperceived reward
was habitually afforded, to a very great amount, concealed
by a contract for the supply of improved articles. This
mode of remuneration was, in his opinion, highly objec-
tionable, as being nowise proportioned to benefit derived
to the service. He had long had in view a mode of
reward sufficient to the inventor, yet not beyond its value
to the public.

It appeared from the Secretary's letter that no doubt
was entertained of the expediency of allowing some com-
pensation to Mr. Brunei, and that it was only as to its
amount, and the most eligible mode, that Sir Samuel's
opinion was required. On this supposition he devised the
details of such a mode as should prove satisfactory on that
occasion, " but which should also be calculated to afford
encouragement to persons of ability in general for the
production of other inventions tending to the diminution
of dockyard expenses, while at the same time such remu-
neration should not hold up a precedent whereon claims

224 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

for compensation could be founded, in any case where the
reality of the advantages had not been previously ascer-
tained." This new mode was that the amount of com-
pensation should be proportioned to the amount of benefit
derived from the use of the invention, namely, a sum
equal to the savings made by Government for some
specific period, and which he ventured to propose.

In favour of such a mode of compensation, he observed
" that the greater the sum it might be found eventually to
amount to, the greater in the same proportion will be the
advantage which the service will derive from the inven-
tion ; " and that the compensation, however great, would
be no neiv expense, but only the continuation, for a short
and limited time, of an habitual expense, which would
hereafter be saved to the public.

It has been, and continues to be, supposed that the
whole of the machinery employed for making blocks was
the invention of Mr. Brunei. The machines for shaping
the shells were indeed so, though they had already been
clearly described in Bentham's specification of 1793, but
several official documents prove that most of the opera-
tions were from the first performed by machines of the
Inspector-General's invention, in many instances by ma-
chines which he had had at work previously to his
appointment to office. Amongst them were those of which
he submitted drawings on the 1st of June 1802, as
"forming part of the machinery for working in wood."
In the same letter he proposed " that these engines
should be set up in Plymouth dockyard immediately, to be
worked by the steam-engine," particularly specifying that,
independently of other uses, " they are, as it were, neces-
sary for the cutting out the wood to the proper scantlings
and lengths for shell of blocks" So also it appears from
various documents that other machines were Sir Samuel's,
such as that for forming wooden pins, an apparatus for
sawing timber, turning lathes, a circular saw contrived to

PRINCIPLE OF NON-RECOIL. 225

cut at pleasure to different angles, and which was em-
ployed in the wood mills for cutting off the angles from
blocks previously to shaping them. In regard to this and
other machinery being then the Inspector-General's pri-
vate property, it was arranged with the Admiralty that
their value should be estimated, and that thev should
be charged by Mr. Lloyd, and paid for to a millwright,
who had been trained by the Inspector-General and em-
ployed by him in making them. They were thus furnished
to Government at a price much below what they had really
cost, to the pecuniary loss of the Inspector-General ; while
he has also been deprived of the credit of their invention.
Continued naval successes by degrees brought con-
viction to the Lords of the Admiralty of the superiority
of the principle of non-recoil for mounting carronades.
At Copenhagen, Lord Nelson placed the Arrow and
the Dart opposite the Crown Batter}^, of fifty-two
guns, believed to be the most formidable of the defen-
sive works of the town. " He " (Lord Nelson) " said
to me that he considered them to be of more effective
force than the 90-gun ships." It is evident that he did
so, as he placed them against those very formidable bat-
teries. The Lieutenant of the Dart, on being questioned,
in July of this year (1803), affirmed that " ohe guns
stood well — no breeching was broke — that he could
continue to fire twice or three times as quick as other
guns, and was two hours and a half in action with
the guns all perfect." The Admiralty had also at this
time received details of the ordnance fixed on this prin-
ciple which had effected such pre-eminent service at the
siege of Acre. That Sir Sidney Smith considered the
success of this ordnance as consequent on Sir Samuel's
introduction of non-recoil, is evident from his letter of
7th March 1803. It says, " My dear Sir— I have felt it
incumbent on me to recommend Mr. E. Spurring, late
our builder at Constantinople, and Mr. James Bray, to

Q

226 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BBNTHAM.

Lord St. Vincent, for promotion in their line ; at the same
time I feel it due to you to let that recommendation
pass through you. I have therefore given the letter in
their favour to Mr. Spurring (who has the advantage of
being known, and I hope approved of by you), under a
flying seal, for your perusal, previous to its delivery."
Sir Samuel learnt from them all particulars of the fitting
the Tiger's carronades on his principle, and the great
benefit derived from it in mounting ordnance for the
defence of Acre.

In August of this year the Commission of Naval In-
quiry requested the Inspector-General to state to them
any " irregularities, frauds, or abuses in any of the Naval
departments at Plymouth during the last ten years." He
did accordingly communicate information of the nature
.required, for which, on the 13th September, he received
the thanks of their Chairman (Mr. Nicholls), who, at the
end of November, had an interview with the Inspector-
Greneral for the purpose of obtaining further particulars.
In regard to the pay of workmen, the Inspector-General
foresaw that the new establishments for working in wood
and metal by machinery would afford opportunity of
introducing the improvements which he projected without
disturbing the general business of an arsenal.

Bespecting pay by job, he furnished to the Commission
much information as an example of the thoughtless ex-
travagance so frequently observable in Navy Board orders.
He informed the Commission that in the repairing of
boats — a thirty-four foot launch, for example — the Navy
Board regulation required that for the smallest repair
of such a boat no less a sum was to be set down in
the books than 5/. 2s. ; if that sum should be found in-
adequate, the repair was to be denominated a middling
repair, and 11/. Is. was the exact sum to be set down,
neither more nor less. Again, if that sum were insuffi-
cient, the repair was to be denominated a large repair,

PLAN FOR A ROPERY. 227

and although the value of the work done should have ex-
ceeded the 117. Is. only by a few shillings,, the expense was
to have appeared in the accounts to have been doubled,
and set down at 227. 2s. The building a new boat of the
same size and description amounted, he informed them,
to no more than 217. 12s. 6d..

Such a regulation appeared to the Commissioners so
absurd, that they entertained, and expressed in writing,
doubts of the Inspector-General's accuracy. He therefore
obtained and communicated to them copies of official
documents establishing the fact, and job work was in con-
sequence abolished.

The first important proposal of the year 1804 was the
detailing his plan for a ropery. Many of the members of
the Board of Admiralty, in the course of their sea-service,
had witnessed the frequent imperfections of cordage, both
in quality of material and in manufacture, and felt assured
that they were not likely to be corrected otherwise than
by the establishment of such a manufactory as he pro-
posed. His proposal was therefore approved by the
Admiralty, and on their application to the Lords of the
Privy Council, the erection of this ropery was sanctioned
by the King in Council, and ordered to be carried into im-
mediate execution.

The strictness required by the New Regulations in the
receipt of timber, that it should be in conformity to con-
tract, had been greatly adverse to the interest of contrac-
tors. They had been habitually permitted to deliver
more or less of timber in quantity, and of a value far
inferior to that specified in contracts. Discontinuance
of these abuses of course occasioned discussions between
contractors and the new timber-masters, and often ill-
will towards them. Complaints were made to the Navy
Board, who thought proper to make in consequence an
advance of no less than twenty-five per cent, on the
contract prices, and other alterations in favour of con-

Q2

228 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

tractors. The Board also, on the part of the timber
merchants, addressed complaints to the Admiralty, sup-
porting the merchants against the timber-masters. The
Admiralty were not deceived, but extracts from Mr. Mars-
den's letter to the Navy Board, 13th May 1804, written
by their Lordships 1 express command, will best exhibit
the opposition of that Board to this very important
improvement in management, and the light in which
that opposition was viewed by them. Mr. Marsden's
letter begins by stating that the Navy Board had not
transmitted certain papers which their Lordships had
called for, and goes on to say : " The replies, however,
which their Lordships have received from the master ship-
wrights and timber-masters of the several yards, give the
most satisfactory as well as positive denial and refutation
of the assertions of the timber merchants that rigour or
( vexatious strictness and severity ' is exercised on the receipt
of timber, or that they feel the responsibility of their
situations in the manner you describe, far less the smallest
apprehension of losing their places ; and, moreover, their
replies fully prove that the root of the evil does not lie in
the minds of either the timber-masters or master ship-
wrights, as you state, but in those ivho encourage a recur-
rence to the former system of receiving timber, which,
however beneficial to the contractors, ivas ominous to the
public ; and with this true state of the case before their
Lordships, it is with astonishment they reperuse the un-
founded calumny against the master shipwrights and
timber-masters (who naturally have a claim to your pro-
tection in the just execution of their duty), which you
have thought proper to transmit to their Lordships, to
which no other construction can be given than that of your
having also the desire that the former system of receiving
timber should be again resorted to, under which the re-
ceiving officers, on the part of the Crown, were, in fact,
the agents of the timber merchants." Their Lordships

CENSURE OP THE NAVY BOAED. 229

then go on to state what they consider as proofs " of the
present disposition of the Navy Board," favourable to con-
tractors, but injurious to the Crown, saying that " their
Lordships can be no longer at a loss to account for the
backwardness of the timber merchants in furnishing sup-
plies, when they are permitted to entertain the hope that
the yards will be again abandoned to their undue influ-
ence, and the officers be calumniated for the honest dis-
charge of their duty to the public."

Mr. Marsden terminates his letter thus : " Their Lord-
ships command me to conclude by observing that you
would not have presumed to use the language with which
you have thought proper to close your said letter, had you
not confided in that forbearance which you have expe-
rienced on the exposure of the negligence, fallacy, and
fraud which have pervaded and been fostered by the de-
partment under your direction, both at home and abroad,
by which the public has suffered immensely, and which
would not have passed so long without receiving all the
notice it merited, had not their Lordships been impressed
with the belief that the consequence which must result
from the impartial judgment of the legislature on the facts
that have been and will be laid before them, would operate
more to the benefit of the public, and be a more useful
lesson to future members of the Navy Board, than any
measures which their Lordships might have pursued to
mark their disapprobation."

The Inspector-Greneral had not been informed that such
a letter had been in contemplation, but a copy of it was
afterwards furnished him, attested by Mr. Nelson of the
Navy Office. It may be said to have been unfortunate for
the service as well as to himself. It greatly increased the
rancour of the Navy Board, as a Board, towards himself,
for it was well known that most of the facts that had
been, or were intended to be laid before the legislature,
had been either furnished by him, or that he had pointed

Q 3

230 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

out to their Lordships and to the Commission of Naval
Inquiry, the quarters from which such facts were to be ob-
tained. It was further known that he had for years, with
the approbation and at the desire of two successive
Administrations, been collecting data, on which to re-
model the Navy Board itself, so as to render it a really
efficient and responsible Board, by clearly defining its
duties and rendering them practicable, by freeing it from
those members who could not be supposed competent, by
simplifying the mode of keeping accounts, and especially
by introducing to a great extent individual responsibility.

On the appointment of the new Ministry, the Inspector-
Greneral had the satisfaction to find that the success which
had attended every improvement he had proposed, had
impressed the new Board of Admiralty with a most
gratifying sense of the services which he had rendered.
One of the new members, Admiral Grambier, who had
himself had opportunities of witnessing those improve-
ments, received Sir Samuel soon after his appointment, in
an official private conference. On this occasion the Ad-
miral expressed himself desirous of doing everything to
forward any business which the Inspector- Greneral might
have to recommend. He replied that " he should attack
their Lordships on the armament of small vessels, adding
that his plans in regard to them had nothing new in them
noiv — they had been put to the test of experience already."

This assertion arose from the protection which had lately
been afforded to trade, at his suggestion, by arming coasting
vessels with non-recoil carronades, those vessels, notwith-
standing, still carrying on their usual traffic.

The Channel and the sea off the east coast had, at the
beginning of this century, been infested with numbers of
well-appointed French privateers, that took our trading
vessels when venturing to sea without powerful convoy,
whilst at the same time the naval military force of the
country was not sufficient to afford convoy equal to the de-
mands of the mercantile marine. These circumstances had

AKMING OF TKADIXG VESSELS. 231

imparted a peculiar interest to General Bentham's plan of
giving to trading vessels themselves a powerful armament.
It happened that several of the Berwick smacks which had
been armed under the former administration as he had
proposed, were now lying off St. Catharine's ; amongst
others, was the Queen Charlotte packet. This vessel, as
appears by a letter the original of which had been en-
closed to the Admiralty, had had off Cromer an engage-
ment, on the 27th January, with a brig privateer of four-
teen guns, direct from port and full of men, in which
encounter the Queen had been victorious. She had but
six carronades, 18-pounders, but they were fixed non-recoil,
and two long 4-pounders. The master of the packet, Mr.
Nelson, affirmed that " he now considers his vessel as su-
perior to any of the gunboats — that he actually gives
protection to other trading vessels. He has now six
carronades on board, and would willingly take four more if
he could but have secure protections for eight men ; for
that, although he has protections for thirteen men, yet
he has always some pressed away from him."

For some time back one of the Inspector-Greneral's im-
portant inventions, that of coynes for connecting timber, had
been ordered for general use in the dockyards, and an intel-
ligent shipwright officer, Mr. Helby, had at his suggestion
been sent to the several dockyards for the purpose of ex-
hibiting the uses of these coynes, and the manner of
employing them. To the credit of officers of all ranks
in the dockyards, instead of reluctance to be taught by
one of an inferior grade, they all manifested the greatest-
goodwill, ordering bowsprits, masts, &c. for large ships to be
prepared according to Mr. Helby's wish. In fact, dock-
yard officers in general were no longer averse to the intro-
duction of his improvements. Their opportunities of wit-
nessing the success of those already in use, led to conviction
in their minds that the adoption of his measures would be
advantageous.

232 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

The scarcity of oak for shipbuilding had iLduce 1 the
Admiralty to order ten frigates to be built of fir by the
same designs, two at each of the five dockyards. The In-
spector-Greneral, on hearing of this order, learnt that little
had yet been done to those in some of the dockyards, and
considering this a favourable opportunity for exhibiting
the advantages of the innovations in regard to strength,
made in his experimental vessels, he, 4th August, sub-
mitted to the Admiralty the expediency of adopting some
of the improvements in regard to the arrangement and
mechanical combination of the parts, such " as were intro-
duced in the construction of the several vessels built under
his direction, and of which the efficacy in regard to strength
had been proved by more than seven years' experience."
This was indeed an extraordinarily favourable opportunity
of putting those expedients to severe test, as these fir frigates,
being of inferior materials, were expected to be of short
duration. He proposed that at each dockyard one of the
frigates should be constructed as usual ; the other as he
should propose, whereby the comparative duration of the
two modes of structure would be fairly tested. His proposal
was adopted ; but on inquiry it was found that too much
had already been done in the way of preparation to admit
of his improvements being introduced excepting in the
dockyards of Deptford and Woolwich.

Ever since his appointment he had been investigating
the means by which success in private manufactories is
obtained, and whether similar good management could
be introduced in that great manufactory, a naval arsenal.
Fully aware too that the manufactories which he had
established could never attain the perfection in point of
economy that he had aspired to give them, unless they
were assimilated to private concerns, he had, from the
first use of his machinery in Portsmouth yard, by de-
grees introduced many regulations differing materially
from dockyard practice. A good deal of work had for

EMPLOYMENT OF MACHINERY. 233

some time been done there by bis machinery and by
that of which Mr. Brunei had the charge ; but it was not
till the 19th February 1805, that he was enabled to
acquaint the Admiralty that the whole of the machinery
ordered according to his proposals was so nearly ready as
to render it necessary that master workmen, and others
for the management and use of it should be provided.
He therefore requested that he might be authorised to
select and engage, in addition to the few hands already
employed, such artificers and others as might appear ne-
cessary for setting the whole of the machinery to work,
and proposed to spend some time at Portsmouth for the
purpose of having immediate communication with the
master workmen and others engaged in these businesses.

This proposal having been referred to the Navy Board,
the Comptroller and a committee of it, then on a visitation
to Portsmouth yard, stated in their minute, 27th February,
that they had consulted the master shipwright, who pro-
fessed himself unacquainted with the nature of the works
to be carried on by means of the machinery. The com-
mittee did not see the possibility of the Board's com-
plying with their Lordships' directions, and they saw
no alternative but to adopt the proposition of General
Bentham. This having been communicated by the Board
to the Admiralty, their Lordships transmitted their report
to the Inspector-Greneral, who in rep]y acquainted their
Lordships that he should " hold himself responsible for not
engaging or retaining a greater number " (of artificers
and others) than would from time to time become really
necessary for carrying " on the work with the greatest
economy," &c. In consequence of which their Lordships,
on the 30th March, gave their orders to place the three
establishments under his management in conformity to
the Navy Board's suggestions.

Thus he became individually responsible for the whole
direction and management of these establishments, not

234 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

less than if they had been private concerns of his own
and on his own private account.

These establishments were watched from first to last
with jealous eyes by a Board that had shown itself all along
adverse to the measures which the Inspector-General had
proposed ; they were watched too by the several con-<
tractors whose interests were invaded by the introduction
of these establishments. In consequence of his expe-
rience, and of his extreme care in the formation of his plans,
they all of them proved as perfect in execution as he had
professed they would be. And as to his management in
the outlay of money for wages or otherwise, although
about a million sterling passed uncontrolled through his
hands in relation to these three establishments, it never
was in any instance surmised that he had misapplied a
single sixpence, or had abused the confidence reposed in
him.

The use of the coynes of his invention was now be-
coming general ; and in the course of his walks in the
dockyard, his attention was particularly called by the
master mastmaker to the perfection which they enabled
him to give to the work in his department — indeed the
success of the great variety of improvements which he
had introduced here, cheered him and encouraged perse-
verance in regard to his other plans, retarded as they were
by the customary opposition of the Navy Board.

Having at length fairly set the manufactories at Ports-
mouth at work, he proceeded in June to Plymouth.

His intention was, as that of the Admiralty had been,
when he left town, that he should apply himself to the
improvement of that dockyard. Immense sums had been
lavished upon it, but unfortunately in conformity to plans
framed more with a view to splendour than to use. Thus
in many instances the new erections had rather impeded
than facilitated the business of the port. Scarcely had he
arrived when he was attacked by a fever caused by exces-

MISSION TO RUSSIA. 235

sive exertion. On the 20th, orders were sent from the
Admiralty, through their secretary, desiring his immediate
return to town, and also the First Lord's private secretary
te signified his Lordship's desire that " he " should return to
town with as much expedition as possible." But he was
too ill to attend to any business, and the letters were opened
by his wife. On being made acquainted with the circum-
stance, they expressed their regret at the state of his health,
and added that it would not be requisite for him to pursue
his journey, until he should be so far recovered as not to
endanger a relapse. The evident desire for his speedy
return induced him to set out for town on the very day he
first left his bed.

On his arrival in town, he immediately waited on Lord
Barham, who announced that the duty on which it was
wished to send him, was that of building ships of war in
Russia for the service of this country, his Lordship and
Mr. Pitt both considering him (the Inspector-General) as
the most eligible person. In case of his acceptance of this
service, it was wished that he should set out in a fortnight,
and his answer was required on the following day. He
was at the same time told that permission had already been
received for building the ships in question, but that it
would remain for him to treat with the persons in that
country with whom it would be necessary to have inter-
course, whether the Eussian Ministry or the merchants
who might be found willing to contract, and that he would
have to see that the ships were properly built. In the
course of this conversation, Lord Barham mentioned of
himself his supposition that he would be desirous of
taking his wife.

It happened at this particular time that a variety of
circumstances could not but render him desirous of re-
maining at home, especially the reluctance of his wife,
added to his own, on account of the interruption which it
would occasion in the education of his children. However,

236 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL EENTHAM.

on his next interview, he expressed his willingness to un-
dertake the mission, provided he were permitted to take
his wife and family, and that an allowance were made
sufficient to cover all his expenses. This was acceded to
without the least hesitation, whilst in the course of con-
versation many nattering expressions fell from his Lord-
ship of his conviction that no other man was competent to
this service ; but that in him were combined professional
knowledge in naval architecture, scientific skill, personal
acquaintance with the resources of Eussia, as well as with
distinguished Russians ; while he was also regarded in the
most favourable light by the Emperor himself. Archangel
was the port which the Admiralty considered most suitable
for the business in question, and the Inspector-General was
directed to consider what persons would be required as
assistants.

The appropriate knowledge, probity, and other esti-
mable qualities of Mr. Helby, then a quartermaster in
Portsmouth dockyard, induced him to recommend this
officer as his principal assistant, which was immediately
acceded to.

On the 2nd August he sailed in the Isabella, and, on his
arrival at Cronstadt, was received with the most flattering
marks of friendly distinction by the Commander of the Fleet
and Port. He proceeded immediately to St. Petersburg,
where he was greeted by old friends, high in power. But,
to his astonishment and dismay, he learnt that what by
the English Ministry had been considered as a cordial and
full acquiescence in their wish to build ships in Russia,
had been nothing more than a civil diplomatic reply to
their application, and which he found had in fact been
very far from a specific request. Under these circum-
stances, his task was one of extreme difficulty. He how-
ever determined to avail himself of all the personal interest
which he possessed at St. Petersburg, in an endeavour to
obtain for the Ministry of his own country the object of

AKKIVAL AT ST. PETERSBURG. 237

their wishes. Fortunately he had been directed to con-
ciliate the Russian Court, and if possible to render him-
self useful to the Russian Government, so that he had no
hesitation in complying with the condition upon which the
Minister of the Marine, Admiral TchitchagofT, at length
gave his consent to the building of the ships. This con-
dition was, that for every vessel laid down for the English
Government, a similar one should be commenced for
Russia ; that the Inspector-General should equally super-
vise the one as the other during their construction, and
that all of his improvements in naval construction should
be introduced and exemplified in the ships for Russia — a
condition highly flattering to him personally. In his first
report to the Admiralty, he gave an account of his progress,
of the difficulties which he had to surmount, and of the
facilities at length afforded to him by the Admiral.

In conformity with this arrangement, Admiral Tchitcha-
gofT, in October 1805, prepared a paper for the Emperor,
in which the above-mentioned particulars were stated, and
the Admiral certainly exerted his best endeavours to obtain
the confirmation of them. Unfortunately, his reluctance
to acquiesce in the wishes of the British Government
became but too apparent — yet at the same time he mani-
fested his personal regard for Bentham, his conviction
of his superior knowledge and abilities, his desire that
many of the inventions and improvements of General
Bentham should be introduced into the Russian service.
Amongst other improvements the establishment of a manu-
factory of cordage and sail cloth similar to that for which
the Inspector-General had prepared plans in England, was
early an object of Imperial solicitude, so that in December
1805, the Minister of the Marine expressed a "wish to
have a factory that would do from 100,000 < poods' to
300,000 per annum."

The Inspector-General continued strenuous in his en-
deavours to obtain the Imperial authority which would

238 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

sanction the favourable proposal of the Minister of the
Marine, but all without avail ; and this, although several
others of the ministers concurred with Admiral Tchitcha-
gofT in the eligibility of the measure. At length, having
understood that, on the 13th March 1806, the question had
come before a Committee of the Ministers of the Crown,
the Inspector-General went early to the Admiral on the
following morning, for the purpose of learning the de-
cision of that Committee. He found that " it had been
determined against allowing vessels for the English service
to be built at St. Petersburg ; that twelve Ministers were
present at the Committee, that they were unanimous in
favour of the measure, but that the Emperor himself
(also present) had overruled them all, on the ground of
the want of timber for their own use; that, however,
the Emperor, as well as the several Ministers, had ex-
pressed the greatest willingness to forward any plans of
General Bentham for his private emolument in the intro-
duction of improvements into their country; particularly
they were anxious for a ropery, &c. &c."

He went immediately to communicate this information
to the Secretary of Legation, Mr. Stuart (afterwards
Lord Stuart de Eothsay). It happened that the then
Governor-General of the Crimea, General Fanshaw, was
at this time at St. Petersburg, and frequently with the
Emperor. As General Fanshaw was an old friend and
companion in arms of General Bentham, frequent con-
versations had taken place between them on the subject of
this mission, and to Mr. Stuart's knowledge the Governor-
General had regretted that the construction of the con-
templated ships had not been proposed from the first to
have been in the Crimea, where timber of superior quality
might be obtained in abundance and at a low price, from
the opposite shores of the Black Sea. Mr. Stuart, in this
interview with the Inspector-General, observed that the
same objection could not hold good at CafTa as at Peters-

OBJECTIONS RAISED BY RUSSIA. 239

burg, and requested the Inspector-General to go imme-
diately to General Fanshaw, and learn what he had to say
on the subject. He immediately did so, when the Governor-
General said as before, that he was exceedingly desirous of
the measure, and that he would give every facility for its
execution. He, as every other person in power spoken to
on the subject, said he could not conceive what the real
ground of the Emperor's objection could have been.
The Inspector-General endeavoured, but in vain, to learn
what that real ground might have been. Count Kouman-
goff could not give any further information.

On the 16th Sir Samuel was advised both by the
Ambassador, Lord Gower, and by Mr. Stuart, to obtain
leave to go to Caffa to build ships and purchase masts, &c,
and to ask General Fanshaw officially whether he would
permit ships to be built there, and what encouragement he
would give. Mr. Stuart advised farther that, supposing
leave should be obtained, Bentham should set out imme-
diately, without losing the time requisite for obtaining an
answer from the Admiralty at home. The question was
put the same day to General Fanshaw. He replied that
" he did not know of the peculiar circumstances in which
the Inspector-General was placed here, and of what had
already passed as to the refusal of building at St. Peters-
burg; he should immediately give him the requisite
permission, and afford him every assistance in his power ;
but that under existing circumstances he should think it
necessary to take the opinion of Ministers, notwithstanding
his own conviction of the eligibility of the measure, and
the advantages that would result from it to Russia."

Vexation at the failure of the English scheme of build-
ing ships, after all his exertions and hopes, brought on
severe illness. He, however, suffered it not to prevent
a continuance of his endeavours ; even in his bed, receiving
General Fanshaw. On this occasion the Governor-General
informed him that Count Eoumangoff had said " he sup-

240 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

posed the refusal to the proposal for building ships for the
English Government to be political." The General advised
the Inspector-General to see TchitchagofT again, and obtain
from him a decisive answer respecting what steps he would
take either for or against the building ships in the Black
Sea.

On the 21st the Inspector-General, though still ill, went
to the Minister of Marine so early that he was not yet up,
sat with him during his breakfast, and at last had a con-
ference with him in private. In this the Inspector-General
desired particularly "to be told whether the objection to
building ships at St. Petersburg arose from 'political
motives, or from any dislike or objection to him personally.
That in either of those cases, it would be folly to contend
against such considerations or prejudices, and that accord-
ingly, if either of these be the reason, he should give
up all further thoughts of doing anything in any part of
Russia." On this the Admiral assured the Inspector-
General " that there was nothing political in the objection;
and that as to personal dislike to him, so far from it, the
Emperor had commanded him (the Admiral) to communi-
cate with Inspector-General Bentham, and to treat with him
respecting the introduction of a ropery, or any establish-
ments in which he could assist for the improvement of this
country, several of which the Emperor was very desirous
of seeing established ; and that he (the Minister) con-
sidered himself as authorised to proceed with those that
related to his department." In reply, Bentham said that
" if these were the Imperial sentiments, he should now
turn his thoughts to building ships in the Black Sea, with
timber brought from Anadolia, sending them to England
loaded with stores — would he, the Minister, have any
objection? Would he wish any proposals of this nature to
go through him, or through what channel ? " The Minister
answered, " that Caffa not being considered as a naval port,
he had nothing to do with business carried on there ; that

PKOPOSED LETTER TO THE EMPEROR. 241

it was in Count KomanzofT's department, and that
Bentham should apply to him." The Inspector-General
observed that it would probably be more desirable for
him to introduce improvements in the south of Eussia
than at St. Petersburg; and afterwards in consultation with
a friend (General Hitroff), it was decided that he should
address a letter immediately to the Emperor, proposing to
build ships in the Black Sea. By the 23rd it was written,
and proved satisfactory to that prince ; next day when
General Fanshawe called to read it, he advised the omission
of a sentence respecting ships of luar. Sir Samuel after-
wards took the letter to the Ambassador ; Lord Gower and
Mr. Stuart each of them examined it separately, and
approved of it, but both agreed that the sentence to which
General Fanshawe objected should be retained. As there
seemed to be reasons why this letter should not pass
through the hands of the Minister of the Marine, the
Inspector-General determined, if possible, to present it
through his friend General Hitroff. This nobleman had
been the companion of the Emperor in childhood and early
life, from which arose a mutual affection ; but he had
never sought emplo3 r ment or distinction on that account,
and was therefore looked upon as a sincere and disinterested
friend. He happened at that time to be absent ; but as the
Emperor had dispatched a courier desiring him to return,
it was deemed best for the success of the proposal, that it
should await his arrival* This took place on the 27th, and
on the same day the Inspector-General took the letter to
his friend, who willingly consented to present it, and
caused a translation of it to be made into French, profes-
sedly for his own use, but from his anxiety that it should be
well done, and from the many verbal alterations which he
made, it seemed that he had in view the further object
of tendering it in the language most familiar to the Em-
peror, although His Majesty understood English well.
General Hitroff was ill at the time, and continued too

242 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

much indisposed to go to Court, so that on the 31st March,
he sent the letter to the Emperor, accompanied by one of his
own, in which he said that Brigadier-Greneral Bentham was
not at all willing to re-enter into the Eussian service,
but that as an individual he found him ready to do any
thing in his power for the advantage of Eussia, whilst he
remained, and he advised the Emperor to consent to the
building of ships in the Black Sea. Greneral Hitroff
having dined with His Majesty, on the 8th of April
Bentham went to learn the determination as to CafTa.
His Imperial Majesty had told him that the answer in
regard to ship building would be given through Prince
Tsartorinsky, while in other matters he should commis-
sion Tchitchagoff to communicate with Greneral Bentham
on the following day. From this he concluded that a re-
fusal would be given to the building.

He lost no time in communicating to the Admiralty the
unfavourable result of his endeavours, and on the 9th he
acquainted their Lordships that although no answer what-
ever had as yet been given by the Eussian Grovernment to
the repeated applications made by Lord Gower respecting
the object of his mission, he "had now reason to believe
that the Emperor will not at last consent to the building
of any ships for our Navy." He added that luckily, although
his instructions had extended to the making preparations
for building ten ships of the line and ten frigates, he had
abstained from engaging for more timber than was neces-
sary for two ships of the line and two frigates, which he
had hoped would have been ready in the course of that
summer, and that if a decided negative should be given
to this business, he should think it his duty to send home
by the first opportunity the persons who accompanied
him ; although the disposal of the timber, and the need of
further instructions from their Lordships, might render
it necessary that he should himself remain some little time
longer in Eussia.

FAILURE OF THE MISSION". 243

In reply to his letter, he was directed to obtain, through
Lord Grower, a categorical answer, and in case of refusal to
send the persons who accompanied him home, as he had
proposed; but to remain himself till the materials, tools,
&c, belonging to Government should be disposed of.

His endeavour now was to obtain leave for the timber
which he had purchased to be sent to England duty free,
arguing with Admiral Tchitchagoff that it would be only
analogous to what England had done for Russia, &c.

He was answered that this would be permitted, and duty
free. This was a far greater boon than would appear at
first sight, for not only the duty saved amounted from
ten to fifteen thousand pounds, but the great scarcity of
this store in England rendered this additional supply of
importance in the Koyal Docks.

Although the Inspector- General had had no part what-
ever in projecting this mission, and had accepted it only as
a duty which he owed to his country, — militating as it did
against his wishes and private convenience, as also against
the prosecution of the various and great improvements at
home which he had so much at heart, — yet his mortification
at the result was extreme. Untoward as circumstances had
appeared on his arrival, the evident appreciation of his
talents not only by the Minister of Marine but by the Em-
peror himself, and the facilities that had in consequence been
afforded him in making preparations for building ships for
the British Navy, together with many other circumstances
that had occurred in private communications, had given
him ground to hope that at last he should be permitted to
accomplish the purpose for which he had been sent from
home. Now these hopes were at an end, and he could
only look forward to the odium which, however unmerited,
generally falls on a man charged with any mission of
which the object fails; still this made no change in his
determination to devote himself to the service of his own
country.

R 2

244 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

For some time back business of a different nature had
occupied him a good deal. The demand in England for
copper, an article so indispensable to the navy, had caused
the great holders of it to combine together for raising
its price to an exorbitant amount. Here then was an op-
portunity of realising one of the benefits which he had in-
dicated in his first proposal for manufacturing that article,
namely, that " under circumstances when it may be found
more beneficial to use the copper of other countries, it
might be imported as a partial supply for the use of her
Majesty's Navy, without interference with any general
commercial privileges or arrangements." Messrs. Bailey, of
St. Petersburgh, had proposed to furnish the Navy Board
with a certain quantity of copper at a rate much below the
English price. The Board recommended reference to the
Inspector-General. Samples of it were therefore analysed
at the metal mills at Portsmouth, and the expenses at-
tendant on bringing it to a state for those mills ascertained,
so that the Navy Board authorised Messrs. Bailey to furnish
1000 tons, if sanctioned by General Bentham, and if at a
price not exceeding 150/. per ton. He did authorise the
sending a quantity, and he obtained it at 145/. lis. 5(7. per
ton. This supply, together with the operation of the metal
mills, caused the market price of copper to fall as much as
5d. per pound within the twelvemonth following. Inde-
pendently of other savings made by the manufacture of
sheathing on Government account, by that fall alone it
amounted to above 38,000/. a year.

At length it was communicated officially to our Govern-
ment that no vessels of war could be allowed to be con-
structed in Russia for British use.

The Inspector-General, on the communication of this
note, wrote to inform the Admiralty that, having been well
assured that the answer to Lord G. L. Gower's note would
be to that effect, he had been anxious to put an end as
soon as possible to the current expenses attendant on his

EXTENDED LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 245

mission, and previously to the receipt of their Lordships'
orders of the 1 1th May, had taken the earliest opportunity
of sending home the persons he had brought with him,
with the exception of Joseph Helby, who would remain
until the timber was shipped.

On the 8th of October the Secretary of the Admiralty
wrote, that he had "their Lordships' commands to acquaint
you that they approve of what you have done."

On receipt of these letters, the season being too far ad-
vanced to admit of his return to England, or of shipping
the timber, he necessarily was detained for the winter at
St. Petersburgh, yet not without anxiety, as no formal no-
tice had been received of acquiescence in the Imperial
desire of obtaining for him a temporary leave of absence.
But with the sanction of our ambassador, and in obedience
to the instructions he had received to do everything in his
power that might be agreeable to the Emperor, he had
consented to introduce some of his inventions and improve-
ments.

On the 17th March, 1807, he heard from a private
friend that the Admiralty, not having received from the
Russian Government any application for his stay at St.
Petersburgh, had commanded his return by the 24th June.
But a long correspondence and much trouble ensued before
he was informed by the Secretary to the Admiralty, that
in consequence of the desire expressed by the Emperor,
his leave of absence had been extended to September 29,
1807.

This mission affords a striking example of the mischiefs
arising from want of precision in diplomatic communica-
tions, especially verbal ones. The sending an officer of high
trust, and the expenses incurred so uselessly in regard to
the artificers who attended him, solely on the authority of a
courteous reply from Russia to a vague request from Eng-
land, but above all the disappointment of obtaining twelve
ships of the line and as many frigates in a time of war, might

E 3

246 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BERTRAM.

have afforded good grounds to an opposition party in Par-
liament for inquiries respecting the measure. But there
happened at this period to have been so many changes in
the Administration, that this mission passed unheeded.

The only establishment which he was enabled to com-
mence in Eussia was the Panopticon at Ochta. For the sake
of expedition it was built of wood. The progress made in
it during the few short months of summer was so great,
that its efficacy in affording perfect inspection of all its
parts from the centre was manifest-
He obtained freight in June for two cargoes of timber,
but finding it impossible to procure any means of convey-
ance for the whole, he wrote to Admiral Gambier to
induce him to send transports from England for the
remaining 4000 loads.

The Enssian Admiralty having expressed a wish to
purchase the copper bolts sent from England, and par-
ticularly the tools and engines of his invention, he dis-
posed of them, as well as all the implements, &c, provided
for building- the above-mentioned four vessels. Having;
completed these arrangements, he took leave of the Em-
peror, so as to be home by the time indicated, but
the Imperial alliance with Bonaparte having already
taken place, no passport could be obtained in the usual
mode. This delayed his departure to the middle of
September, when the Emperor assigned one of his cor-
vettes to convey the General and his party from Eevel
to Sweden.

No greater proof can be given of the Emperor's confi-
dence in his honour than that, notwithstanding the war
with England, he was not only permitted to examine the
important port of Eevel, but allowed to take notes, with the
view of ascertaining the best means of improving it. This
was the more remarkable, as it was evident that devotion
to his own country was the sole cause of his return home.
The flattering distinction with which he had been received

STEERS FOR CxYRLSCR02s T A. 247

at St. Petersburg by official men and others, as well as by
the Emperor himself, had had no charms in competition
with service at home. • Pecuniary considerations had been of
no avail ; for the Emperor had assigned him an allowance,
paid monthly in advance, exceeding that of any of his
Ministers.

His stay at St. Petersburg had been so unexpectedly
protracted, that nightly frosts had already commenced
when he and his family left that capital in the middle of
September. On their arrival at Revel, two days' rest were
allowed them whilst he examined the port. It was in-
tended that the corvette should convey him to Stockholm, in
order that he might obtain the King's permission to inspect
the naval arsenal at Carlscrona. It proved to be a voyage
of alarms and danger, for the commander of the vessel
and his officers appeared little competent to manage her,
and the sails were so set that often she was carried
aback instead of forward. One stormy day she was about
to be run ashore on a Danish island, when he at last
ventured to interfere. The commander, to his credit,
admitted the truth of his observations, and put the vessel
under his direction; the sails were altered to his wish,
and the corvette escaped. As English, they had unusual
dread of any Danish port, exasperated as the Danes were
at that time by the late slaughter at Copenhagen.
But he and his children spoke Russ as natives, and would
have passed as Russians ; while his wife's few words of
Russ would have sufficed, ill and confined to her cot as she
was. At length he thought it prudent to steer for Carl-
scrona, the nearest port friendly to England, instead of
Stockholm, the commander having had orders to land
him at any place in Sweden which he might select. Great
indeed was his relief when a pilot from that port was once
on board. Before going on shore, the Governor had been
informed of his arrival, and sent his carriage to receive
him on his landing.

s 4

248 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

It was not in the power, however, of any of the authorities
to admit any one to the arsenal without special permission
from the King. This was immediately applied for in favour
of Bentham, and accorded in due course of time. He had
already acquainted the Admiralty at home that he in-
tended visiting Carlscrona in his way, in order to examine
the great works there, especially as the route across Sweden
at that time of year, and during the state of war, was
the only one that afforded a chance of his timely arrival
in England.

This port was the only naval establishment in the Baltic
which General Bentham had not previously visited. Its
splendour and the utility of its arrangements are well
known ; but he had opportunity of learning what were the
real advantages derived from these works. The Governor
of Carlscrona, Admiral Puka, and the Principal Officer of
the Naval Arsenal, Major Kilgren, most kindly afforded
him every information.

The many anxieties and fatigues which Greneral Bentham
had undergone of late had produced an illness that needed
rest ; yet when he had inspected the works of the arsenal,
he immediately set out on his return. His kind ac-
quaintances at Carlscrona had given him letters of
introduction to the landed proprietors whose estates were
situated on his route. This was fortunate ; for. when half
way between that town and Gothenburg, his travelling
coach, an English one, broke down. He learnt that he
was within half a dozen miles of Engeltofta, the resi-
dence of a proprietor, Major Schamsward, where there
was an establishment of English workmen, for the
works needed on the estate. He and his family walked
on to Engeltofta, where he was cordially welcomed. His
carriage was well repaired; and during the three days
requisite for the work, they were entertained in the most
hospitable and friendly manner by the Major. On his es-
tate, a few miles north of Helsingborg, amongst the tender

RETURN TO ENGLAND. 249

fruit-trees were olives, which bore fruit, and a keg of
them preserved as in France, had been sent as a present
to that country.

On reaching the coast, they had to wait some days for
the sailing of a packet before they embarked for England.
After a long and dangerous passage, they landed at Har-
wich, where he received letters from his office, The first
which he opened informed him that the office of In-
spector-Greneral of Navy Works was abolished, and that,
in consequence of a recommendation of the Commission of
Naval Revision, it was to be incorporated with the Navy
Board, of which he was to be appointed one of the Com-
missioners.

250 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

CHAP. XL

Changes of Administration at the Admiralty — Influences at \rork during
his absence in Kussia — Acceptance of Office in the Navy Board —
Letter from General Fanshawe — Compensation to Mr. Brunei for
Sayings on Blocks — Proposal for a Canal from Portsmouth Harbour to
Stokes Bay — Mixture of Copper and Tin — Faulty method of Ship-
building — Covered Docks — Modes of Seasoning Timber — Seasoning
Houses — Sheerness Dockyard — Northfleet and the Isle of Grain —
Breakwater at Plymouth.

To account for this unexpected change, the different disposi-
tions of the several Admiralty Naval Administrations under
which Sir Samuel had been employed must be reverted to.
Enough has been already said to prove that, whilst the
many glorious achievements of the navy proved the wis-
dom of Earl Spencer's military measures — he was alive
to the want of improvement in the civil branch of the
service. His own perception of the value of General Ben-
tham's suggestions led his Lordship to induce him to
undertake a visit to the dockyards, and then to enter
permanently in H. M.'s service ; yet even from the first his
Lordship manifested the ruling spirit of his administration
— that of conciliation of the existing interests. Through-
out the many years of his presiding at the Admiralty,
whilst he listened with the greatest interest to General
Bentham's suggestions, and eagerly solicited him to point
out abuses and mismanagement, he perceived that it was
the system itself, and very rarely this or that individual
that was at fault ; it was, therefore, a reform of the system
itself which Lord Spencer aimed at, as the only effectual
remedy. It appeared to him that the Inspector-General's

CHANGES OF NAVAL ADMINISTRATION. 2-51

peculiar situation, together with the insight he had had
from a boy into the business of a dockyard, rendered him
especially competent to contrive a mode of management
that should be effectual ; but though his talents were ac-
knowledged and appreciated, the Secretary of the Admi-
ralty was associated with him in the business, in order to
conciliate inferiors, and he wished the whole to be framed
in a manner to injure as little as possible the existing ser-
vants of the Crown.

When the Earl of St. Vincent came to preside at the
Admiralty, the widely different spirit of the new Adminis-
tration was immediately evident. This may be accounted
for by the mismanagement and abuses habitual in the
dockyards, which frequently occasioned delays, disappoint-
ments, and useless expenses on board the ships and fleets
that his Lordship had commanded, sometimes even suffi-
cient to have put in jeopardy the success of an expedi-
tion. His Lordship and his Board had experienced the
value of military discipline in bringing seamen to a strict
performance of their duty, and it appeared to them that
similar means might be adopted with equal efficacy in the
civil branch of the navy. His Lordship, moreover, was
continually urged to extreme measures by some of the sea
Lords in the Board of Admiralty. That abuses did exist
sufficient to excite the wrath of a conscientious Board, the
few examples adduced in these pages would alone suffice to
prove ; but the correction of them was not likely to be effected
by the frequent habitual use of such intemperate expressions
as that the " master shipwrights ought all of them to be
hanged." The specific abuse which gave rise to the Com-
mission of Inquiry (namely, the retaining infirm men when
past their work, in the dockyards, at the pay of the young
and efficient artificers), was an abuse as well known to the
Navy Board and to the Comptroller himself as it was to the
master shipwrights. But it was in fact neither attributable
to the dockyards, to the Navy Board, nor to the Comptroller;

252 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

but it sprung from the system of management, for that
system made no provision whatever for different rates of
pa}', so that a man after having spent his best years in the
service, when at length his strength failed, would neces-
sarily either be altogether discharged, or retained at the
same pay as when in his full vigour. It could not be ex-
pected that the dockyards or the Navy Board should be so
wanting in humanity as to dismiss a deserving artificer
so long as he could, on any pretence, be continued on the
books.

Of Lord St. Vincent's never ceasing endeavours for the
real benefit of the service, the Inspector-General had fre-
quent and convincing proofs. His Lordship's relinquish-
ment of patronage evinced itself frequently, particularly in
the appointments at the dockyards, and the introduction of
the new regulations for timber. On that occasion neither
his Lordship nor any of his Board patronised a single
favourite ; the best men were sought for and appointed,
whether taken from private yards or already engaged in
the royal ones.

The succeeding administration of Lord Melville was no
less favourable to the Inspector-General than the preced-
ing ones had been ; and his various plans of improvement
in ship building, manufacturing establishments, and engi-
neering improvements in the dockyards, all were pro-
gressing satisfactorily, when the Tenth Eeport of the
Committee of Inquiry appeared. The excitement which
it produced occasioned a most unfortunate change, end-
ing in defalcations from the measures that had been pur-
sued for improvement and reform through three successive
Naval Administrations. Lord Barham, now First Lord
of the Admiralty, was known to be unfriendly to the
Committee of Inquiry, and Lord Sidmouth has said
(Life, vol. ii. p. 362) that " Lord Barnaul's opinions
are adverse to those we have upheld."

The Board of Naval Eevision instituted at this time

BOARD OF NAVAL REVISION. 253

seems to have been decided on with a view to prevent such
disclosures as had been elicited by the Committee of
Enquiry, to veil abuses from the public eye, and to enable
the civil service of the navy to "glide smoothly on in the
beaten track which it had worn for itself."

There seems every reason to suppose that if General
Bentham had been in this country at that time, and had had
opportunity of stating facts to disprove unfounded allega-
tions, no decision could have been come to which could have
caused the abolition of his office. Indeed, from the first
mention of the mission to Eussia, he could not but suppose
that some covert motive in regard to himself personally had
been in view. In a letter to Earl Spencer whilst a member
of the administration, he says, " I cannot but sometimes
suspect, considering the precipitation with which I was
sent here, before the Emperor's leave was asked, that an
anxious desire of removing me out of the way contributed
not a little to heighten the advantages expected from my
services at Archangel. I was somewhat confirmed in this
suspicion b}^ the expression of a man whose influence at
the Admiralty was yery great, when with a most cordial
shake of the hand, it came out, as it were unawares that
6 for his part, though he had the highest opinion of my
talents and zeal, yet he would give his voice for allowing
me at least six thousand a year if by that means he could
be assured I w r ould never return again.' "

Besides the annoyance which the Navy Board felt at
having been obliged to give reasons for what they re-
commended or objected to, there seems to have been
very powerful private interest operating during his ab-
sence. It had become evident that in Bentham's office most
important works had originated and were perfected with-
out extraneous aid, so that the interests of the private
engineer no less than of the contractor, w T ere materially
affected. Advantage was taken of his absence to attack
the metal mills ; and as to engineering works, a plan had

254 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTIIAM.

been brought forward during that time for the creation
of a Naval Arsenal at Northfleet, similar to, and in place
of that proposed by him in the Isle of Grain. By the
adoption of the Northfleet plan, the private engineer
and manufacturer of millwright's work could not have
failed to derive immense pecuniary advantages. These
interests, operating simultaneously and at a time when
there were very frequent changes in the Naval Admi-
nistration, may well account for the abolition of the In-
spector-General's office recommended by the Committee of
Inquiry.

On Bentham's return he was ignorant of the Grounds
on which the Committee of Revision had based their re-
commendation^ as to his office, but in an interview with
Lord Mulgrave, then presiding at the Admiralty, to use
the words of General Bentham's letter to his Lordship
9th March, 1808, he "understood that the intention of
abolishing my present office had not arisen from any
doubts of the efficacy of it, but merely from the expec-
tation that by incorporating me with the Navy Board,
I should be able to continue my former pursuits with
less opposition, and, therefore, with more advantage to
the public service. This did not appear to me so certain."
He, therefore, had requested to submit to his Lordship
what appeared objectionable in the measure. General
Bentham had then only seen the Fourth Eeport without
its appendix — the only one of the Eeports that had
been published without such an addition — but having
obtained from the navy office the appendix also, to use
again the words of that letter, "I saw that the aboli-
tion of my office was grounded altogether on the extract
of a Eeport from the Navy Board, in which it w
represented that the establishment of the office of
Inspector-General of Navy Works had not produced any
benefit to the service equivalent to the expense of it^
that he i( saw blame imputed either to me for having in-

REMARKS OX THE SUPPRESSION OF HIS OFFICE. 255

terfered in the business of the Navy Board/' " or to the
Admiralty Board for having made use of me as their
instrument in the investigation of business which it was
their Lordships' duty to control, and when at the same
time it did not appear that any one on the part of the
Admiralty had been called upon to produce any docu-
ments, or even to give any opinion relative to the utility
of this appendage to their own office." He observed in
the same communication, that he felt it incumbent on
him to make a statement on the subject more in detail
than he had conceived would have been needed, when he
first obtained permission to draw up such a paper ; and
added that necessary attention to the current business of
his office, together with illness, had prevented his com-
pleting it ; but having heard accidentally that the patent
for the change was making out, he sent a part of his
observations and requested some little delay for the re-
mainder. They were accordingly submitted to the Admi-
ralty on the 9th of March and 6th of June.

In these observations the services rendered by the In-
spector-Greneral of Navy Works were noticed under their
several heads, showing how impossible it would have been
to have effected them, as a member of the Navy Board.
He farther spoke of the improvements which he had
introduced in naval architecture, and of the decided
opposition he had had to encounter from the Dockyards
and Navy Board, till at length experience had proved
their efficiency. He also represented the strict individual
responsibility under which the Inspector-Greneral of Navy
Works proposed any measure, and brought to notice that
by the Third Eeport of the Commissioners of Revision, it
had not been intended to abolish the office of Inspector-
Greneral of Navy Works, which, therefore, must have been
an afterthought, perhaps on a supposition that he was not
likely to return from Russia. He urged that of all branches
of duty, that of a civil architect was the one for which his

256 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

previous education and habits were least likely to have
rendered him fit ; whilst on the contrary he was to be
altogether excluded from that duty, to which he had prin-
cipal ty devoted himself from the period when his classical
education was finished, and to which his studies had been
particularly directed. No notice was ever taken of these
papers, though on one occasion he was taunted by a Lord
of the Admiralty with having had the education of a
gentleman, previously to his having devoted himself to
that of a shipwright.

But the abolition of the office had been determined on.

General Bentham for some time hesitated to accept the
proffered seat at the Navy Board. He requested an inter-
view with Lord Mulgrave, to ascertain what would be the
pecuniary consequences to himself if he should refuse, and
learnt that the retiring allowance intended to be granted
would not be sufficient for the decent support of his family.
He consulted his friend the Speaker ; and having by his
advice decided, though reluctantly, to accept a commis-
sionership of the navy, on the 29th of August he com-
municated this determination by letter to Lord Mulgrave.

He accordingly took his seat. The members of the
Board were individually friendly, whilst by the Board
itself he was subjected to many petty annoyances. So
far as these regarded himself, he would not suffer them
to stand in competition with the public service; but he soon
found that persons belonging to the office of the Inspector-
Greneral of Navy Works, now transferred to the Navy Pay
Office, were to be injured in their interests: and, in order
to retain their assistance, he was under the necessity of
remonstrating against the hardship under which his senior
draughtsman, Mr. Heard, laboured, he being, by Admiralty
order, to be placed as an assistant draughtsman, whilst
his junior, Mr. Millar, was to be placed over his head.

General Bentham's time had been in great part engaged in
investigating vexatious attacks on the manufacturing esta-

DEFENCE OF THE DOCKYARD FACTORIES. 257

blishments in Portsmouth dockyard. On the 6th January,
in reply to Messrs. Taylor's assertion that they were fully
satisfied that the block machinery would not do what was
expected of it, General Bentham informed the Navy Board
that, with the exception of a very few trifling obstacles
before specified, the wood mills were able to furnish all
the articles specified in the blockmaker's contract. So, on
the 30th January, in answer to a statement "that the
sheathing now manufactured at Portsmouth was of inferior
quality to what had before been made there," he wrote
to the Board that, on inquiry, he saw no reason for sup-
posing it to be inferior to what it had been before, or
that too much labour, as was asserted, had been required
from the workmen; but added that if the Board would
point out from what particular circumstances their appre-
hensions arose, he would make further inquiries. On the
9th of April he gave the Board a detailed account of the
works completed for the supply of fresh water throughout
Portsmouth yard and to the fleet, as also of the works for
extinguishing fire.

The new navy patent, in which General Bentham's name
was included, was not read at the Navy Board till the 7th
December. The books of the office of Inspector-General
of Navy Works were, by Admiralty order, removed to the
Navy Office.

The General had never given a thought to use the title
which was authorised by his Majesty's permission, or to wear
in his own country the Cross of St. George. He was
advised by his friends, particularly Lord St. Helens, to
assume it on his removal to the Navy Board. It was
at first intended that the First Lord of the Admiralty
should present him anew to the King on his appoint-
ment, but it so happened that he was put off from time
to time, and that it was not till 1809 that he went to
Court, where he was received by his Sovereign as Sir
Samuel Bentham, K.S.G.

s

258 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

There appear but few documents relative to the busi-
ness of this year. Severe and long-continued illness of
several members of his family prevented his wife from
taking copies of official papers, and he had no longer even
a single clerk at his disposal. It seems, however, that he
was much occupied in considering the further introduction
of machinery, and of various extensive plans of improve-
ment of several naval arsenals, especially that of Ports-
mouth Harbour.

A letter received from his old friend General Fanshawe,
acquainted him that the Panopticon at St. Petersburg
" stood well, notwithstanding the shafts of envy," and that
he had suggested the erection of a similar building for
barracks.

The amount of compensation due to Mr. Brunei had
engrossed a great portion of Sir Samuel's time. On the
face of this business it might appear scarcely to justify
the withdrawing so much of his attention from other
matters, but collateral circumstances rendered his investi-
gations of real importance, as it afforded proof of many
of the oversights, if not abuses, frequent in making naval
contracts. The machinery in question having been in full
work by the year 1809, Mr. Brunei, on the 5th June, trans-
mitted to the Navy Board calculations which he had made
of the savings for one year, amounting to 21,174/. 12s. 10d,
The Admiralty had directed the Navy Board to consult
General Bentham as to the best mode of estimating the
savings made by the machinery for making blocks. The
papers were referred to him. He put them into the
hands of Mr. Rogers, afterwards a clerk in the Secretary's
Office, who after office hours went into various elaborate
calculations, which made it appear that, supposing the
prices for blocks to be those at which they were contracted
for with Mr. Dunsterville, the savings would amount to no
more than 6691/. 7s. 5<L, whereas, according to a calcula-
tion based upon the prices paid to another contractor, Mr,

CALCULATION OF SAYINGS. 259

Taylor, the savings would amount to 12,742/. 8s. 2d. This
discrepancy in the results naturally led Sir Samuel to look
into particulars, and the more he entered into them the
more further investigation appeared essential. He there-
fore "went into every possible detail of expense that
could have been expected in a private manufacturing con-
cern ; whereas Mr. Brunei and Mr. Rogers had both of
them set down various items at an estimated amount."

There were, however, circumstances attending this case
which rendered it a business of peculiar difficulty. It had
been pointed out to him that the savings produced by his
own machines, taken from Queen-square Place, were con-
siderable, and that as they were of his invention, not of
Mr. Brunei's, the savings made by them ought not to be
included in his remuneration. But Mr. Brunei had entered
so fully into the General's ideas, and seconded him so ably
in the selection of workpeople, that he considered him
as deserving some remuneration for the trouble he took
in forwarding his views in regard to the general manage-
ment. He determined, therefore, to base his calculation
of savings on the ground of what it had cost to provide
blocks and blockmakers' wares in the wood mills, com-
pared with what it would have cost Government to have
obtained the same quantity of these stores by contract.

As far as related to the outgoings of the manufactory,
the accounts kept of them being in form as simple as they
were correct in particulars, the amount under each head
was easily calculated ; but it was far otherwise with the
sums for obtaining blocks and wares by contract. There
had been two contractors, Taylor and Dunsterville, and the
prices allowed to Taylor were nearly double of those al-
lowed to Dunsterville. To complicate the matter, there
were percentages one upon another that had been autho-
rised by the Naval Board as additions to the original con-
tract price ; whilst in abatement of the contractors' profits,
different naval office fees were to be deducted from the

s2

260 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

sums paid them. Sir Samuel took the trouble to examine
the quantities that had been actually received from each of
those contractors, and in calculating savings from the block
machinery, reckoned a quantity equal to that taken from
Taylor, at Taylor's prices, a quantity equal to that from
Dunsterville, at Dunsterville's prices, deducting in both
cases fees : thus the result of his calculation was the
amount of saving that had really been made by manufac-
turing blocks on Government account, which was the sum
of 16, 6211. 8 s. 10c/. for one year.

It was not till the 25th of July that Sir Samuel was
enabled to present his Eeport to his Board. He stated
that the difference between the 16,621/. 8s. 10t/., the
21,174/. 12s. 10c?. of Mr. Brunei, and of the two sums of
Mr. Eogers, 6691/. 7s. 4d and 12,742/. 8s. 2d, might
well be accounted for by the circumstance of his having
gone into every possible detail of expense, whereas those
gentlemen had both of them set down various items of an
estimated amount only.

Mr. Brunei's statement having been for a sum so much
exceeding even Sir. Samuel's, it seems but justice to him to
insert an article of his journal, 18th March, 1810: — "At
work all day on Brunei's accounts ; find that he has made
out his with every appearance of the fairest, most honour-
able intentions; he has given lumping sums a<jainst
himself, but has taken no advantage without stating it.
Eogers has made some omissions and wrong charges both
for and against Brunei."

Sir Samuel's accounts given to the Board showed that
the capital sunk for buildings and machinery had been so
far liquidated, that the remaining outstanding debt (ex-
clusive of Mr. Brunei's remuneration) would be paid off
by the next October ; that including that remuneration,
the whole cost of the block manufactory would be liqui-
dated in October of the following year ; the principal
and interest, and all attendant expenses, having then been

CANAL FROM PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR. 261

paid by the profits of the concern. Besides this liquidation,
the sum of 8732/. Os. 9cl. had already accumulated by the
reserve of 51. per cent, to compensate for wear and tear
and chance of disuse.

The Navy Board transmitted Sir Samuel's statement on
the 14th of August to the Admiralty, who, on the 18th
instant, ordered that it should be adopted, and Mr. Brunei's
remuneration paid to him accordingly.

This matter has been entered into so minutely as ex-
hibiting a variety of particulars rarely attended to, or
thought practicable, in Government concerns ; whereas, on
the contrary, they are such as ought constantly to be kept
in view, and rigorously acted on.

These investigations proved that the Navy Board, in this
instance, as in so many others, were unobservant of the
sums they were giving by contract over what the same
articles might have been obtained for from even another
of their own contractors; for by far the greater part of
Mr. Taylor's blocks and blockmakers' wares were double
the price of Mr. Dunsterville's.

As long ago as Nov. 1799, Bentham had proposed and
given a rough plan for a canal from Portsmouth Har-
bour to Stokes Bay, so as to enable ships to come into
harbour under whatever wind ; which was either to be
confined to the width necessary for the passage of a ship
of the line of the largest dimensions, that is, 130 feet wide
at the surface, and 34 feet at the deepest part ; or to be
of sufficient width to allow of a first-rate sailing through
it. In either case such a canal would have provided for
the entrance into the harbour of ships of the very deepest
draught of water, whereas now those drawing more than
twenty-two feet are of necessity sent for repairs to Ply-
mouth. The estimate for digging the narrower canal was
50,000/., for the wider one of double the area 100,000/. ;
but as Sir Samuel had devised a digging apparatus, to be
worked by steam, the real cost of this part of the work

S 3

262 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM. I

would have been much' below the estimate. This appa-
ratus was to have been on a floating vessel, and in many-
respects analogous to the steam dredging machine, but so
contrived as that it should dig the dry ground before it and
make its way as it advanced, floating still onwards and
onwards* A triple lock was contrived for each end of the
canal, the middle lock for ships of the larger classes, a
smaller lock on each side of it, one for small vessels, the
other for boats. These locks,with pier-heads and walls of
masonry, averaging twelve feet in thickness, were esti-
mated each at 50,000/. There would thus have been
obtained, besides access to the harbour for the largest
ships, a basin subservient to use for such petty repairs as
are done afloat, instead of sending artificers and stores to
Spithead, while the whole would have afforded most desir-
able means for the embarkation of troops, and in time of
peace the means of laying up a fleet. This canal also
would have been applicable as an immense sluice which,
with turnwaters and other appropriate works, would not
have failed to deepen the harbour itself and its entrance.
It is true that the later invention and use of steam tugs
has diminished the need for such a work ; yet the many col-
lateral advantages of it, and especially the great extent of
basin afforded by it, seem to render it still an object
worthy consideration.

On Nov. 26th, 1811, Bentham recalled to the recollection
of the Board that he had several times mentioned, whilst at
the dockyards in the summer of 1810, that the building
ships on steps as hitherto practised seemed to him alto-
gether objectionable. He now recapitulated his princi-
pal reasons for this opinion, such as the exposure of the
materials to the weather, the exposure of the artificers,
the impossibility of carrying on the work even in the
shortest days of winter for any longer time than the few
hours of daylight, the expenses of launching, and, finally,
the injury done to a ship by the disconnection more or

IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIP-BUILDING. 263

less of its parts, as shown by the breaking of the ship in
launching, which has always taken place in a greater or
less degree.

He had considered various modes of forming receptacles
for building ships, and after examination of those in other
countries he was satisfied that the most suitable would be
shallow docks, covered over, lighted by proper windows by
day, by gaslights, or otherwise, by night, so that work
might be carried on in them at all times and seasons, the
same as in other well-constructed workshops ; and that these
same covered docks would also be the most eligible recep-
tacles for the repair of ships.

With assistance which he provided at his own cost,
his plans were made out, amongst other important works,
for the construction of covered docks and seasoning houses,
including convenient arrangements for the performance of
all those works subservient to the building or great repairs
of ships which should be carried on by their side, and be
aided by mechanical contrivance for saving labour and
expense.

In regard to expedition, he felt assured that, the timber
having been previously duly seasoned, a first-rate vessel
might from its first commencement be completed in even
less than six months ; or supposing a double set of arti-
ficers to be employed, in the short space of three months.

He afterwards stated, in 1813, that the merit of this par-
ticular species of accommodation had lately been claimed
by several persons ; that coverings of some kind for docks
had in fact been proposed and even used at times at least
as far back as the year 1776, but those coverings had been
nothing more than sheds, that is, roofs extending over the
slips, but not closed, in at the sides or ends, excepting that
some of those that had been proposed since his drawings
had been sent in, had had the addition of wooden shutters
at the sides. These, therefore, even including the covered
docks in the magnificent naval arsenal at Carlscrona,

s 4

264 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

were either open to the weather at the sides, or the light
had been excluded in as far as thev had been closed, and
all of them were open at the stern. Since the time of
sending in his plans, the covering of docks and slips had
been very extensively recommended by the Naval Board,
and he added that he could not entertain a doubt but that,
in all essential peculiarities, those plans of his would be
adopted, such as perfect protection from the weather, day-
light in abundance, means of heating, warming, ventilating,
and artificial lighting at pleasure.

As an important appendage to a covered dock, he con-
trived timber-seasoning houses. It has been seen that
the seasoning and treating timber in different ways, with
a view to its preservation, had been objects of inquiry
and study even from the first of his investigations in
Holland, in the year 1797. On the occasion of reference
to him of a proposal for seasoning timber by means of
lime, he recommended a trial of that expedient. No ex-
periments were however authorised, but at different times
he took advantage of such means as opportunities pre-
sented to make trials of the sort ; — such as at Plymouth
through Mr. Jenner, by the impregnation of wood with
oil, to protect it from worms; and in 1805, he caused a
cellar of the wood mills to be employed as a seasoning-
house, where a course of experiments was commenced by
drying wood artificially, by steaming it, by impregnating
it with the acid from wood shavings whilst burning, &c ;
but which experiments were put a stop to by his being
sent away to Russia. In 1811, when the destruction of
ships of war by the dry rot was so prevalent, he brought
to view a variety of important facts relative to the venti-
lation of ships, and to the preservation of the timber of
which they are built.

On the 13th September, his minute stated that he had
known the progress of dry rot stopped by thoroughly im-
pregnating the infected parts of wood with a solution of

MEANS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF SHIPS. 265

sulphate of iron ; and that Dr. Hales had long ago recom-
mended a solution of sulphate of copper with a view to
preserve timber, and to protect it from worms.

On the 6th March, 1812, he transmitted to the Navy
Board his design for a timber-seasoning house, and pre-
faced his description of it with the best and fullest account
that has (it is believed) ever appeared of instances exem-
plifying the durability of timber, of the circumstances
under which it had proved of long duration, and of various
means used for its seasoning and preservation. He in-
stanced Westminster Hall and Abbey, and a number of
cathedrals, churches, and old mansions, as affording ex-
amples where timber used in constructions on land had
remained perfect for many centuries, and the Koyal George
as an example even of timber in ships lasting for near
a century. On the other hand, of late, when dry rot
had taken place, there were instances where the wood-
work in buildings on land had fallen to pieces in the course
of a twelvemonth, and in ships, within a year or two after
their construction was completed.

In instances where the duration of timber for centuries
has been unquestionable, it is well known that no pre-
paration was used except that it had been cut down long
enough for the natural moisture to have been in a great
degree dried away. He instanced the means by which
this is usually effected, by piling deals and other small
pieces in the open air ; and in regard to large timber, by
leaving it for years with the bark on, when, that having
rotted away, the interior parts of the log have been found
to become compact, hard, and dry, with little or no
cracking of the timber itself. On the contrary, where
timber has been sided, that is, some of the outside of the
timber cut off, the outside of such pieces has been found
more or less cracked before the inside had been sufficiently
seasoned.

The best mode hitherto in use for seasoning timber was

2G6 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

leaving it, with the bark on, in the open air, whereby the
perfectly formed wood has been protected from the imme-
diate action of the sun and air, and the drying away of
the juices from the whole has proceeded so gradually and
uniformly as not to cause any cracking or separation of
the fibres. But this mode requires a greater length of
time than the supply of timber to the royal dockyards has
provided for, or can be expected in the case of any private
builder. From this might well have arisen the short dura-
tion of some ships of war of late years, while the different
degrees of duration in different ships were likely to have
arisen from various causes of greater or less wet in them.
He then particularised some of the expedients which had
been tried, such as, in warm countries, covering the tim-
ber with sand, so that the moisture might dry gradually
away.

Artificial heat had, previously, been successfully applied
by manufacturers and others for drying boards and other
pieces of small scantling. In Russia, boards and wood
cut into small scantlings are suspended in workshops
always much heated in winter and very little ventilated.
From all the opportunities which he had had of examining
the state of timber so prepared, the due seasoning without
cracking has appeared to depend on the ventilation having
happened to be constant, but very slow, joined to such a
due regulation of the heat as that the interior of the
timber should dry and keep pace with the outer circles in
its contraction. The only instance in which he had seen
an apparatus constructed purposely for seasoning timber
by artificial heat was at the great cotton manufactory of
Messrs. Strutt at Belper, whose planks and deals w T ere
seasoned without injury, and in a short space of time, by due
ventilation and heat. Under some circumstances a heat
even greater than that of boiling water can be applied in
a close kiln, as in the instance of steaming planks and
thickstuff. It was, therefore, on the providing means of

METHODS OF SEASONING TIMBEE. 267

applying heat so as to vary it suitably to different kinds
of timber, and to the different states and stages of its
seasoning, and on the regulation at pleasure of the admis-
sion of dry air, that his expectations were grounded, of
deriving advantages from the use of the seasoning-houses
which he proposed*

The estimate for the seasoning-house was 5929/. 10s.
To set against that expenditure} over and above insuring
the most perfect seasoning of the timber, would be the
interest of the capital lying dead during seasoning of the
timber in the common way* Supposing only three }^ears
to be required in that common mode, and 45,000/. the
value of the timber (at a price less than the then current
one), the compound interest upon that sum for three years
would be upwards of 7186/.; whereas, as he had reason
to think that the timber would in three months be per-
fectly seasoned in one of these houses, the interest on
the 45,000?. for that time would be 5621. 10s., that on the
capital sunk for the seasoning-house, 74/. 2s. 4c/. ; wear
and tear upon it at 5 per cent., 74/. 2s. 4c/. ; supposing
500 tons of water to be evaporated, and half a chaldron
of coals consumed per ton (a quantity greater than he
knew from experiment to be requisite), the value of the
coals would, at 52s. per chaldron, be 650/. The total
greatest expense, therefore, 1360/., leaving a balance upon
every 3000 loads of timber of 5826/. ; and supposing
the house to be charged only three times in the year, the
annual saving by one of these houses would be 17,478/.,
so that the capital sunk for its erection would be refunded
in less than half a year, after which a clear annual saving
would be effected of 17,000/. by one only of these season-
ing houses.

Works at Sheerness dockyard have not as yet been
noticed, because it appeared desirable to give a connected
instead of yearly statement in regard to them. This
dockyard is situated, in some respects, advantageously

268 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

for the repair of ships coming in from the eastward, but
certain winds (and those which commonly prevail) are
unfavourable to its approach. The works at this ar-
senal, as they existed at the end of the last century,
were on too small a scale to afford means of repairing
within the yard any other vessels than those of the smaller
classes : those works themselves were fast wearing out.
Sir Samuel was satisfied of the incompetency of those to
the eastward for the repairs of large ships, for excepting
at Chatham there were no means of effecting what are
denominated great repairs : so that ships stationed to the
eastward, frequent as was their need of small repairs, could
not obtain them at a nearer yard than Portsmouth. This
port, so distant from their station, was sometimes attained
with difficulty and danger, always with delay and conse-
quent needless expense. He therefore so early as 1799
suggested, in letters to Earl Spencer, the expediency of
giving up Deptford dockyard, and of providing a new,
complete system of naval establishments in the Isle of
Grain, including a basin for laying up ships, particularly
large ones.

In his conferences with Earls Spencer and St. Vincent,
he did not fail to represent the advantages that would
result from such an arsenal as conducive to the speedy
repair and outfit of our fleets. Lord St. Vincent's own
observations as a naval commander convinced him of the
correctness of these views, so that he was prepared, on his
visitation in 1802 to the eastern yards, to consider the
proposal on the spot. On that occasion his Lordship
examined with great attention that part of the Isle of
Grain which had been pointed out as an eligible site for
a new naval arsenal. His opinion, and that of the other
Lords of the Admiralty then on visitation, was so favour-
able to Sir Samuel's proposal, that they caused an account
of some of his reasons for forming such an arsenal to be
recorded in his very words in the " minutes of visitation."

DAMAGES SUSTAINED AT SHEERNESS. 269

It happened that during this and the succeeding Naval
Administration, General Bentham's occupations were such
as to engross the whole of his attention, without refe-
rence to the new arsenal, otherwise than in so far as the
introduction of extensive machinery for manufacturing
purposes was subservient to the improvements which he
contemplated for it. As previously noticed, whilst he
was actively pursuing improvements in the western
yards, he was early in Lord Barham's administration sent
to Eussia.

During the few days Sir Samuel was in town previously
to his departure, he could not but suspect that some sinis-
ter views had led to this measure. Soon after he left
England the Commission of Naval Eevision was instituted,
to all appearance with a view to stop the inquiries of the
Commission of Naval Inquiry. At the same time mem-
bers of the Naval Board dreaded that the really respon-
sible, and consequently efficient, management which late
Admiralty Boards had been disposed to introduce should
now be carried into effect. It was notorious that in Earl
Spencer's administration Sir Samuel was the man who
had had the courage to point out numberless instances of
mismanagement, and that he had devised means for the
future prevention of it ; that his endeavours were likely to
succeed, and the Naval Board could not but surmise that
their own duties would come to be clearly defined ; that
each member would be made responsible for the business
assigned to each individually, and thus their duty would
become real labour.

On Sir Samuel Bentham's return from Eussia nothing
further passed to his knowledge either in regard to North-
fleet or to Sheerness, until the 19th January, 1808 : when
the Admiralty directed him to send assistants in his depart-
ment (still that of Inspector-General of Naval Works) to
examine the damages sustained at Sheerness by the high
tide and tremendous gale of the 14th. On the 30th he

270 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAAT.

acquainted their Lordships that the injury done to the
wharves there did not appear so great as was supposed :
but he added that the wharf walls were in a state of
general decay, and pointed out various means by which
their reparation could be effected. The mischief done
to the wharf during the late gale had been occasioned
principally by the rolling of the waves over it, and thus
washing away the ground from behind. On consulting
with the Commissioners of Dockyards, it appeared that an
old ship might be advantageously grounded as a break-
water.

Sir Samuel had consulted the Commissioners of Dock-
yards with several experienced pilots and others, before he
had made up his mind as to the effects likely to be pro-
duced by sinking the old ship ; and all of them had
agreed that no mischief would ensue. It can hardly be
doubted that Mr. Eennie had the same motives for repre-
senting that Sir Samuel would do mischief at Sheerness,
as had lately induced him (as afterwards appeared) to give
their Lordships to understand that the mischief done at
Woolwich by an improper projection of a wharf, had been
consequent on the adoption of a plan of Sir Samuel's,
when the fact was that he had not had the least concern
in that work, or even the slightest knowledge of it.

By their Lordships' letter of 3rd September it seemed
evident that Messrs. Eennie and Whidbey had represented
the dockyard as being in a state of general dilapidation and
inefficiency. No particulars of this report were communi-
cated to Sir Samuel, but he was directed to examine the
general condition of the dockyard, to " prepare a plan for
making good the general defects thereof, with such altera-
tions and improvements with respect to convenience, but
ivithout any extension of the works, as the state of repairs
might in his judgment justify."

On the 30th October he submitted his ideas respecting
the remedying the defects of the works, and the altera-

RIVER WALL AT SHEERNESS. 271

tions and improvements which the state of them would
justify under their Lordships' restrictions. As to the
buildings, wharves, and docks, he considered that though
there were but few that did not show some tokens of decay,
yet there were scarcely any that were not likely to remain
for several years as fit for use as they ever had been.

He deprecated the building or great repairs of ships at
Sheerness, because that was the only port to the eastward
where they could come for repairs which, though small,
were essential ; but he recommended the increase of the
number of dockyards, so that a ship might be taken in for
moderate repairsTtrT order to employ artificers when there
was no press of business.

Their Lordships, without waiting for the report which
they had directed Sir Samuel Bentham to furnish, gave
their orders to the Naval Board to cause a river wall to be
constructed under his superintendence, but according to
a line which had been given by Messrs. Eennie and
Whidbey.

When the Naval Board, on the 17th December, requested
General Bentham to inform them of the particulars of
the timber required for the new line of wall, he stated
the impossibility of furnishing them until their Lord-
ships should have come to a decision on the kind of mate-
rial of which the wall was to be composed. The Navy
Board, therefore, applied to the Admiralty, and were by
them authorised to fix on the materials themselves. On
this occasion they were further directed to give Sir Samuel,
now of the Navy Board, a full opportunity of considering
all that had been written by Messrs. Eennie and Whidbey
on this subject, as also the plans and estimates of Mr.
Eennie for the improvement of the dockyard at Sheer-
ness ; and they were then to come to a decision on the best
plan for its improvement, and transmit the same for their
Lordships' consideration.

On the 28th the Board decided that the wall should

272 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

be of stone, and Sir Samuel, on consideration of the
badness of the ground in so far as it was known, thought it
absolutely necessary that experiments should be instituted
to ascertain the weight it would really bear. As the ordi-
nary mode of probing for this purpose did not seem satisfac-
tory, he devised the plan of spreading a considerable surface
of timber on the ground and weighting it. The ground was
found soft to so great a depth in the line of the intended
wall, that in their report they recommended carrying the
line back to where the subsoil was trustworthy, and pro-
jecting from it a wharf supported on hollow cast-iron piles.
As Sir Samuel approved of this, the Navy Board recom-
mended it to the Admiralty, who on the 15th of May
ordered it to be carried into execution.

The work was begun at the end where no difficulty ex-
isted, and was carried on as far as where the foundation
needed to be but two or three feet under low-water
mark. At this juncture it appeared that new appa-
ratus would be required for levelling the ground. He
had various expedients in view, by means of which he
foresaw that he could obviate the difficulties, and still
more the enormous expense, of carrying on works in the
usual way, where piles of fifty or sixty feet long would
have been required ; but not having any assistant but Mr.
Goodrich who possessed the requisite scientific knowledge,
he proposed that a duly qualified person should be engaged
to superintend the works at Sheerness. Although this was
denied him, and although he had no adequate assistance
afforded him even for ordinary business, he resolved to
struggle on to the utmost. The Navy Board, on their
part, convinced of the inadequacy of his establishment,
rendered him some assistance by permitting the engage-
ment of a working mason ; and this man, so long as the
Sheerness wall had its foundation but little below low-
water mark, proved very useful.

As the time approached when the wall must be con-

KIVER WALL AT SHEEBNESS. 273

structed in deep water, and where the foundation would be
laid on mud and a quicksand to a considerable depth, it
was evident that no ordinary mode of construction could
be adopted but at an enormous expense. He could not
hear of, nor had he seen either in this country or on the
Continent, any example of such a work executed otherwise
than under cover of a dam, or in caissons of wood. The
latter of these modes, besides being costly, was objection-
able, on account of the perishable nature of the wooden
case. Various expedients presented themselves to his fer-
tile mind. But before finally determining on any mode,
he thought it incumbent on him to examine, in as far as
time permitted, the most important works that had been
executed on the south-east coast. Accordingly, in August
1810, he combined this object with that of examining the
capabilities of various places on the south-eastern and
southern coast for becoming harbours of refuge ; and at
the same time he wished to demonstrate the impolicy of
sinking any considerable sum on the repairs of Sheerness
dockyard, objectionable as it was on account of its situa-
tion in regard to prevailing winds and other drawbacks.
On this account he proceeded to examine and consider
whether it might not be more eligible to adopt the idea of
an arsenal at Northfleet, since the Isle of Grain had been
so unfortunately rejected.

Northfleet, it is true, appeared to have been already
given up by the Admiralty, since in March of that year
the Navy Board had orders to let the land which they had
purchased there. Sir Samuel having applied for a sight of
the plan for the projected arsenal, the Comptroller assured
him that the Navy Board had it not; that they knew
nothing of it officially. Sir Samuel had perused, with
interest, various pamphlets published in regard to it. He
had strenuously advocated, as has been seen, the construc-
tion of a naval arsenal "somewhere north of the Fore-
lands;" and although he had pointed out the long-thought-

T

274 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

of site, the Isle of Grain, he was not wedded to it, and
would certainly as willingly have advocated any other one,
if equally eligible in regard to the most important points.
On this tour, therefore, his first visit was to Northfleet,
where he found that the depth of water was sufficient, and
that the place was well protected from wind. But, on the
other hand, the valley appeared difficult to fortify, and he
had lately received unquestionable information, based on
boring operations carried on at both places, that the
ground there was quite as bad as that at Sheerness.

On the 5th July Sir Samuel, in conversation with Mr.
Yorke, the First Lord of the Admiralty, directed his notice
to several of his official papers which proved the expe-
diency of forming a new naval arsenal to the eastward.
In a pamphlet, then just published*, advocating the con-
struction of that proposed at Northfleet, the author, after
adducing the opinions of two former First Lords, the Earl
of Egmont and Lord Howe, in favour of a dockyard at the
Isle of Grain, introduces supposititious addresses from Earl
Spencer and the Earl of St. Vincent, in both of which the
very words of Sir Samuel's official letters are made use
of in long quotations as arguments in favour of such
an establishment, without, indeed, naming him ; and the
pamphlet led, besides, to the supposition that the ques-
tion at that period had originated in their Lordships,
instead of, as was the fact, with the then Inspector-
General. He had never seen reason to depart from the
opinions he had stated in regard to all the eastern dock-
yards, and therefore could not but feel great reluctamv
on this occasion in being made an instrument of sinking
such vast sums at Sheerness, a place which after all would
have the irremediable disadvantage of "being on the wrong
side of the harbourwith respect to prevailing winds."

His inspection of Northfleet again led him to revert to
the Isle of Grain as a far preferable site. It is not even

* Naval Considerations relative to the Const ruction of a New Naval Arsenal
at Northfleet Ridgway, 1810.

ADVANTAGES OF THE ISLE OF GRAIN. 275

at this day useless to recall the subject, although many
millions of money have been sunk at Sheerness ; for in
case of war, our fleets acting in the north and east seas
would still be subject to all the former inconvenience, ex-
pense, and delays from the want of any arsenal nearer than
Portsmouth. It may, therefore, be worth while to relate
the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the two
sites as appear by Sir Samuel's papers.

As the borings at the Isle of Grain showed that the
execution of works close to the water's edge would be
attended with expense, the Earl of St. Vincent refrained
from authorising the work, the financial state of the coun-
try (1802) being such as barely to admit of the armament
by sea and by land which our political situation as to
France urgently required. But this difficulty in regard to
soil existed equally by the waterside at Northfleet ; whilst
at some little distance inward, the soil of Grain is as
favourable as could be wished.

The imhealthiness of Grain has been spoken of as de-
cidedly adverse to that site. But the canal which Sir
Samuel proposed would, at the same time that it formed
an important feature of the new arsenal, have drained the
low land effectually. Thus, were it only on the score of
giving a large tract of country to agricultural purposes,
and health to what would become a numerous population,
the canal would have been esteemed a public benefit. In
point of fact, Grain in its then state was not more un-
healthy than Sheerness and its surrounding marshes. The
disfavour brought on the island by Mr. Bunce's death was
unfortunate. His predisposition to disease, occasioned by
excess of both bodily and mental labour, was never taken
into account by those who adduced it as the ground for
rejecting Grain. Examples abound of marshland, when
drained, becoming healthy.

As to prevailing winds, the Isle of Grain and Northfleet
are under precisely the same circumstances; but under

T 2

276 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

adverse winds, a vessel could make the Isle of Grain im-
mediately when coming in from sea ; whilst it would still
have to beat up the Thames for many miles, especially
through the long reach of the Hope, before it could make
NortHfleet.

As to fortification, the high ground in the Isle of Grain
would afford a commanding central spot from whence the
works of the intended arsenal could be protected ; while, on
the contrary, Northfleet is commanded by high ground of
great extent, and difficult of fortification. The distance from
the stronghold of Chatham is about the same for both ; but
the water communication is greatly in favour of Grain.
The military protection most to be depended on for a
naval arsenal, may some day come to be looked for by
Government as Sir Samuel viewed it, namely, in naval,
not land defences, since vessels of war, particularly of light
draught of water, duly armed with heavy ordnance, having
the great advantage of locomotion, can at any time be
brought to any threatened spot. The Isle of Grain could
be, as it were, surrounded by a belt of floating fortifi-
cations in case of danger.

The Isle of Grain has also the advantage of a double water
route for supplies and succour, — by the Medway from the
interior of the country, through which that river runs, —
by the Thames for communication with the Metropolis;
and to this must be added land communication with the
interior of the country, and above all the immediate one
by sea.

On the 7th and 8th August,1810, Sir Samuel was engaged
at Chatham with a Committee of the Navy Board, who had
been directed to give their decided opinion on several
plans which had been proposed in regard to Sheerness, by
Messrs. Kennie and Whidbey and by Sir Samuel respect-
ively. On the 9th this Committee made their report to
the Navy Board.

The Committee state that " the line of the river wall in

CONFERENCE WITH NAVY BOAKD. 277

front of the dockyard, following the course of the current,
as described in the plan submitted by Sir Samuel Bentham,
is that which in our opinion should be adopted." They
next state that Messrs. Eennie and Whidbey, on account
of the badness of the soil, speak of the limitation of the
dockyard to the repair of the largest frigate, or even a
74-gun ship; whilst Sir Samuel Bentham pointed out the
expediency of extending the use of the dockyard to the
reparation and outfit of ships of the line of the largest
dimensions, and that, to effect this purpose, the only addi-
tional work which he proposed was to extend the length and
breadth of the docks. As to the requisite depth of water,
instead of sinking the foundations, he proposed to raise the
water in the basin by means of a steam engine, as practised
in Portsmouth dockyard. " Considering, therefore, all the
circumstances attendant on the two plans, we have no hesi-
tation in recommending the adoption of that proposed by
the civil architect and engineer, excepting in the instances
hereafter particularised."

On August 30th, the Comptroller acquainted him that
the Board had come to a decision in regard to Sheerness.
On September 3rd, he received intimation from the Board
that the Admiralty had given directions to carry into exe-
cution certain of the works proposed, and to consider and
report on others of them ; that therefore his presence in
town was desired to confer with the Board on the subject.
He accordingly went to London, returning again shortly
to Portsmouth, where he was then occupied in designing
machinery for Sheerness yard, intended to be driven by
steam and used in crushing stone for Eoman cement.

Sir Samuel continued his investigations as to the different
modes for executing works under water in situations and
on subsoils of mud analogous to that at Sheerness, from
which it appeared that no other mode of construction of-
fered advantages superior to the one which he had devised.

He determined to form the wall of hollow masses of

T 3

278 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

brickwork twenty-one feet square : a bottom was formed of
old ship timber, and upon this an inverted arch of brick
was built, and sides of brick were then built upon the
arch, the whole being set in Eoman cement, until a suffi-
cient height was attained to give buoyancy to the hollow
mass. The first was built in a dock, but subsequently
this accommodation was found needless. Diagonal walls
were constructed in the angles to afford strength. The
mass, when capable of being floated off, was navigated to
its intended place ; when there, the walls were heightened,
and the lower part added to in thickness, some shingle,
set in grout, being thrown into the lower part. "When the
whole had been by degrees made to sink till it reached
the muddy bottom, and the walls carried up to nearly high
water-mark, a loaded vessel was then brought over the
mass. As the tide fell, of course the weight rested on the
mass, and pressed it down into the mud till it rested on
the solid substratum of clay.

In the autumn of 1810 Sir Samuel's minute was given
to the Board, stating it to be desirable that the Admiralty
should be acquainted with the success which had attended
the fresh-water well at Sheerness, which he had designed
with appropriate pump and machinery. He stated from
precise data that 180 tons of water were raised from it in
ten hours. The fleet has been able to obtain all required
supplies of water from this well, instead of from boats
bringing it from Chatham, as heretofore. On the 21st
February he proposed, in order to store a quantity of water
for the supply of any casual extra demand, that a reservoir
should be formed capable of containing about 1000 tons.

In 1811 Sir Samuel established himself for a time in
the neighbourhood of Sheerness, taking with him his
family, who rendered him assistance as clerks, and made
for him the drawings he required.

Not long afterwards, the Navy Board acquainted him
that they had received their Lordships' orders to state

REPLY TO NAVY BOARD. 279

what had been done in consequence of their order of the
12th October, as to settling with the Ordnance respecting
workshops at Sheerness, and that their Lordships had sig-
nified " that they understood in forming the sea-wall at
that place it is intended to adopt the plan of sinking
caissons, instead of the usual mode of driving piles, and
directed us to report to them whether any estimate of the
expense, and probable success of the two modes, has been
made," In his reply to the Board, he gave a plain answer
to each of the questions proposed ; but at the same time,
roused by the injustice of insinuations that had been made
to his prejudice, he adverted to the many successful works
which he had caused to be executed as a reason why in this
instance he might be trusted. He added, " I cannot there-
fore but experience on the occasion of this misrepresenta-
tion the same sentiments of surprise and regret which,
while with the Committee here last summer, in the pre-
sence of the Fust Lord of the Admiralty, I expressed to
Sir Joseph Yorke, on the occasion when he spoke of the
injudicious works in Woolwich yard as being mine ; and
when, on my assuring him that I had had no part either
in the planning or the execution of them, he replied,
that at least they were attributed to me, and expressed
in consequence his apprehension that I was about c to spoil
this dockyard as I had already spoilt that of Woolwich?

The mischief done at Woolwich had been by the inju-
dicious projection of a wall into the Thames, by which
the current being obstructed in front of the dockyard, an
enormous quantity of mud was deposited in front of it,
where the wall occasioned still water.

Sir Samuel then stated that in fact the mode in which he
intended to proceed was, to the best of his knowledge,
entirely new, and that it was more analogous to the prin-
ciple on which security is obtained by driving piles, than
it is to the building in caissons.

He explained the construction of his hollow masses of

t 4

280 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

brickwork, showing that each mass could be considered
in fact as an immense pile — a pile of twenty-one feet
instead of a foot or two — of masonry instead of wood —
driven down by weight instead of by percussion.

As to the estimate of the expense of his mode com-
pared to that of driving piles, he trusted that in a fort-
night he should be enabled to lay before the Board an
estimate grounded on the expenses that shall have been
" actually incurred in forming the foundation of one
portion of the wall."

In the mean time, to lessen apprehensions in regard to
the expense or the probable success of his plans, he
requested them to bear in mind that he had already to
their knowledge on many occasions caused the usual modes
of construction to be departed from, when saving of
expense had been always one of the objects which he had
had in view, and that in every instance a real saving had
been the result.

On the 15th April, 1811, he acquainted the Board that
the first mass was completed and ready to be floated to its
place, and sent a short description of this new mode of
construction, with an estimate of the expense of a wall so
formed, and a drawing exemplifying it.

On the 16th he acquainted the Board that the first mass
had been the preceding day successfully floated off and in
its place. At the same time he noticed that the urgency of
the Admiralty for the speedy progress of the works at Sheer-
ness had induced him to construct and deposit this first
mass under several circumstances adverse to success —
circumstances which, however, would only be considered
as proof of the eligibility of the invention.

He had flattered himself with the hope of encourage-
ment ; instead of which on the 25th he received through
the Navy Board a letter from Mr. Barrow communicating
their Lordships' displeasure in terms particularly galling.
Still he determined to persevere.

OPPOSITION OF THE NAVY BOAED. 281

It appears that Commissioner Brown, the Resident Com-
missioner at Sheerness, having waited on Mr. Yorke (the
First Lord) about this time, had had discussions with him
as to Sir Samuel, and had seen reason to vindicate his
conduct forcibly, though ineffectually.

Bentham had remarked in the late Admiralty letter the
contemptuous expression, " as he calls it" twice used in
speaking of his invention of the hollow masses. The cause
of this expression now came to light. His assistant, Mr.
Hull, had said at the Navy Office that this was no invention
of Sir Samuel's, and that it had been practised by Mr.
Rennie at Great Grimsby. The statement was incorrect,
as appears from his letter to his superior, 3rd October,
1810, in which he wrote as follows: "Mr. Kingston re-
turned to the office this morning, after having visited the
following places, Hull, Grimsby, York, Leeds, and from
thence Spalding and Deeping, but he requests me to say
he found nothing in any of the ivories ivhich have been
carried on at any of these places that is in the least
similar to those ivhich are to be carried on at Sheerness,
but that the whole have been carried on nearly similar to
the London and West India Docks, under cover of deems,
and the walls set- on piles or planks."

Sir Samuel, hereupon, with the knowledge and appro-
bation of his Board, directed Mr. Goodrich, the machinist,
to proceed to Great Grimsby to examine and report on the
manner in which the works there had been erected. In
his letter dated from thence, 23rd May, 1811, he says,
" In regard to the works of the dock here, there has been
nothing in the mode of carrying on the foundations analo-
gous to the mode you are pursuing at Sheerness," and
afterwards, " great difficulties and many failures appear to
have been experienced in forming the walls and bottom
of the dock, with a little wharfage beyond the lock in
the basin ; but the whole was formed under cover of a
dam made across what is now the entrance into the lock,

282 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

the piles being driven down to a solid foundation of chalk
rock."

Various impediments were found to occur in levelling the
foundation of the wall by Sir Samuel's dredging machine.
But the engine worked well in twenty-six feet water; and
Mr. Goodrich, by skilfully employing harpoons, grapnels,
and an 8-cwt. anchor with a sharpened fluke, rendered its
operation very effective. Experience was being gained also
in the navigation of the hollow masses, which were floated
by one tide, without the aid of the vessels that were at
first used alongside, to a convenient seat for them to rest
on, till a subsequent tide should serve for conveying them
to their final destination.

The Admiralty, on the 27th September, 1811, having di-
rected the Navy Board to furnish them with various particu-
lars respecting the new wharf wall, Sir Samuel, 8th October,
acquainted the Board — that in regard to expense (accord-
ing to an estimate grounded on the expenditure hitherto
actually incurred for materials, workmanship, and contin-
gencies) in carrying up above 100 feet of the wall to low
water-mark, at an average depth of 21 feet, it would be
211. 7 s. per foot forward ; and supposing the part above
low water to be 22 feet high, with a moorstone facing, a
length of 197 feet was estimated at nearly 5000/., so that
the whole wall of the average height of 43 feet would be
at the rate of 47/. per foot forward ; whilst according to
the estimate of Messrs. Eennie and Whidbey, the wall
proposed was by their estimate at the rate of 191/.
per foot forward. The expense of Sir Samuel's mode
was therefore less than a fourth of that of those gen-
tlemen ; and this, although their wall for a considerable
length had its foundation but little below low-water
mark and upon a natural foundation that was unexcep-
tionable, whilst Sir Samuel's was on an average of the
whole length no less than 21 feet below low water, the
ground under it being everywhere of the worst.

BREAKWATER IX PLYMOUTH SOUXD. 283

It was at this time, too, that the influence obtained at
the Admiralty by Messrs. Eennie and Whidbey became
apparent in regard to another work, the pier and break-
water in Plymouth Sound, — a work which from its magni-
tude, its immense cost, and its imposing appearance, is
held high in general estimation — so highly, indeed, that
at this day it may seem folly to bring to notice Sir Samuel's
official representations in regard to it : but in this, as in
other of the transactions of his life, the public will, it
may be hoped, eventually give him credit for his en-
deavours to serve them no less where his representations
failed, than in the many others wherein they were attended
with success.

In regard to Plymouth Sound, Sir Samuel had for many
years back at various times entertained the idea that
some kind of breakwater might be constructed to protect
it. He had, however, been deterred from prosecuting
any such idea in consequence of information obtained at
Plymouth, that, so far as he could learn, not any one ship
of the line had ever been lost in the Sound, and that
none were injured or were even more liable to injury than
in any other good roadstead — Spithead for example —
although in the Sound the waves are long and deep, whilst
at Spithead the sea is short. He learnt, indeed, that one
frigate had been lost at anchor in the Sound; but in that
instance the ports had been left open down nearly to the
water's edge, so that this could not, any more than the loss
of the Eoyal Greorge at Portsmouth, be considered as jus-
tifying the expenditure of perhaps a couple of millions of
the public money, to the exclusion of improvements more
imperatively required.

He was convinced, however, not only of the impro-
priety of expending so large a sum on the breakwater
rather than on other more needful works, but that the
mode of execution proposed was less eligible and more
costly than others that might be devised ; yet, perceiving

284 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

a determination on the part of their Lordships that
a breakwater should be executed in Plymouth Sound,
his next object was to contrive some mode of con-
struction which should be free from the objections to that
one which had been adopted. He therefore on the 4th
October presented a minute, in which he stated the
principal objections to Messrs. Rennie and Whidbey 's
breakwater, and proposed hvo new modes for executing
such a work, — which in fact were three modes, — namely,
by two rows of cylindrical piers, the piers of one row
opposite the intervals between the piers of the other
row ; 2ndly, by a single row of masses, &c. ; 3rdly, by a
floating breakwater.* By any one of these modes the
water from the Tamer, and that of the tide, would have
liberty to flow between or under either of the breakwaters
which he proposed. In his estimate of expenses the
grand total of a breakwater of stone, equal in length to
Mr. Eennie's, and including contingencies, at 15 per cent.,
amounted to 2 84, 648 £. ; if a floating breakwater, including
also contingencies, at 15 per cent., 201,825/.

To this proposal the answer of the Board was, that they
" considered that there was not at present sufficient infor-
mation before them, either as to the plan proposed by
Messrs. Rennie and Whidbey, or of the amount of the
estimate, to enable the Board to act upon the contents of
this minute."

Nothing daunted where he felt himself to be advocating
a benefit to the public, he further urged against the plan
of Messrs. Rennie and Whidbey, that no opinions appear
on record as having been given or required from Admirals
or other naval officers of Her Majesty's fleets, in regard
either to Plymouth Sound or to any of the other road-
steads or harbours on the south-west coast. The only naval

* These modes were twice mentioned in papers printed by order of the
House of Commons, first in the year 1812, and again in 1842, when they
were ordered to be laid on the table.

BREAKWATER IN PLYMOUTH SOUND. 285

opinions in support of the work were those of the Masters-
Attendant Jackson, Hammans, and Brown, who generally
corroborated Messrs. Eennie and Whidbey's statement ;
yet, instead of the fifty sail of the line at least which they
had stated would be sheltered by their breakwater, Mr.
Jackson limited the number to thirty-six under favourable
circumstances, and under the guidance of an officer spe-
cially appointed for the purpose ; while Mr. Hammans in
his report of the loth October, 1816, said, "I have only
further to observe that, during the ten years I was Master-
Attendant at Plymouth dockyard, I never heard of any
ship getting on her anchor in Plymouth Sound, or any
other ships' anchors."*

As to the object of the work, Sir Samuel observed that
it was nowhere distinctly defined whether the first and
most essential point of consideration were the converting
Plymouth Sound into a harbour, in which ships might
be adjusted in certain preconcerted situations to which
they required to be warped, or whether it were the im-
provement of the Sound as a roadstead, to which a fleet
of ships driven by stress of weather might have easy access
even in the night, and bring to by their own anchors
as in other good roadsteads. On this point he observed
that there were already two good harbours, Hamoaze and
Catwater, within the Sound, but without it no roadstead
or safe anchoring ground, and therefore the improvement
of it as a roadstead was of the most importance, whilst
the contracting by the breakwater the entrance to about
half its extent, and the closing the greater part of the
passage between the Panther and Strood rocks, and con-
tracting the passage east of the Strood rocks, would
render access to that anchorage far more difficult than at
present.

Lastly, he urged that if the protection to be afforded by

* It was on account of the danger of ships grounding on their anchors
that the breakwater had been proposed-

•286 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAjI.

floating breakwaters should on due consideration appeal-
insufficient, as also if his other mode were deemed
useless or injurious, he had nevertheless reason to be-
lieve that even a close pier might be formed (including the
greater part of the Sound and the whole of Causand Bay),
so as to render Plymouth Sound and Causand Bay both of
them good roadsteads, into which the passage should be
easy, thus affording a safe refuge for twice as many ships
as were provided for by Messrs. Rennie and Whidbey, at
even half the amount of the estimate of 1806.

Inquiry had been instituted in regard to every impor-
tant work without exception that Sir Samuel, as Inspec-
tor-General of Naval Works, had proposed: his plans
had been uniformly referred to the Navy Board, and
by them to the officers of the ports to which the proposals
related. When objections were made to his plans these
objections were in writing, and were referred to him in
order that he might show, in writing also, his specific
reasons for considering them not well founded ; and so their
Lordships were enabled, with the statements on both sides
before them, to come to such a decision as the reasons
thus alleged should appear to justify. Had Sir Samuel'.;
papers on the breakwater been referred in the same way
to Messrs. Eennie and Whidbey, and had they been re-
quired to state any arguments which they might have had
to bring in favour of their own views, and in opposition to
his, it would have been but just to both sides, and at the
same time highly expedient in a public point of view, but
no such course was in this case taken.

It appears that the Navy Board, perhaps roused to some
sense of real economy by Sir Samuel's constant efforts to
effect it, proposed to Mr. Whidbey that a quantity of rock
and rubble that had accumulated in Plymouth yard should
be used for the breakwater; but Mr. Whidbey (September
1st) informed them that it could not be used fur that pur-
pose. On the 30th November Messrs. Ronnie and Whid-

BKEAKWATER IN PLYMOUTH SOUND. 287

bey reported to the Admiralty, that for 2,334,655 feet of
limestone rock, the property of the Duke of Bedford, his
agent had required the sum of 11,000/., that is, at the rate
of about 733/,. an acre for barren rock, besides other advan-
tages of constructing and leaving a wharf in good order, &c;
and as of this quantity it was calculated that when raised
only two-thirds of it would be suitable for the work, it was
further required on the part of the Duke that the portion
unfit for the breakwater should be left for the benefit of
his Grace, to be disposed of as he might deem advisable ;
thus, besides the 11,000/., his Grace would have the addi-
tional benefit of having for his use a third of the whole
quantity raised at the expense of Government.

It appeared useless for Sir Samuel to interfere further ;
but it is noted on his copy of the above-mentioned
proposal, that there was a great mass of stone suit-
able for the purpose in the upper part of the dockyard,
and in various other properties of G-overnment, in situa-
tions where it had been deemed advisable to propose pay-
in & laro-e sums for the removal of it in order to level its site.
This breakwater in Plymouth Sound has been produc-
tive of mischievous results, which will be mentioned pre-
sently, and which show how unwise it is to adopt the plans
of any man, however eminent in his profession, without
fully investigating their merits and defects.

The first intimation of the breakwater received either
by the Navy Board collectively, or the civil engineer in-
dividually, was by a letter, signed by three of the Lords
of the Admiralty, acquainting the Board that the Prince
Regent had sanctioned the construction of a pier and
breakwater in Plymouth Sound, according to a plan
prepared by Messrs. Rennie and Whiclbey, and directing
the Board to render assistance in furnishing several costly
articles. The Board was further recommended to con-
sult with that engineer, and with their Master- Attendant
Whidbey.

288 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

This order placed Sir Samuel in a most embarrassing
position, since among the duties of his office it was ex-
pressly stated to be his " peculiar province to examine and
suggest alterations and improvements in all plans for new
works." He had lately been greatly blamed, on account
of some injudicious works at Woolwich, in which he had
had no concern, and where he could not be considered
as implicated in the mischief that had been done, unless
it were supposed that he ought to have interfered so
as to have prevented their execution. He had reason
to doubt whether the plans of Mr. Eennie — eminent as
was this engineer — were at all times the best that might
be devised, or that his statements were uniformly correct ;
and the late inquiry in regard to his works at Great
Grrimsby had brought to light, unsought for, considerable
failures, and particularly a disregard of economy in the
mode of execution.

Sir Samuel could not but feel the more anxiety owing
to the thought which he had himself bestowed on the
subject of a breakwater in Plymouth Sound; entertain-
ing, conjointly with Lords Spencer and St. Vincent, an
opinion that the money required for such a work might be
much more advantageously employed elsewhere.

Of the three modes which he suggested as free from the
objections which might be urged against Mr. Eennie's, the
third, — namely, a floating breakwater, the estimate for
which, including contingencies, at 15 per cent., was
201,825/., — was that which he preferred. His preference
arose from the efficacy of a similar breakwater which he
had seen, on his return from Eussia, at the port of Eevel ;
and he had lately had one of the same kind, on a small
scale, in use at Sheerness. The floats which he designed
for Plymouth were each of them prisms of 60 feet long,
30 feet deep : they were to be moored in two rows, each
float of the back row behind the interval in the outer row.
The great advantages of this mode were that, whilst small

PROPOSAL FOR A FLOATING BREAKWATER. 289

vessels might navigate between the floats, large ships,
should they be driven against the breakwater, would re-
ceive no injury, — at the worst, the float would be pressed
downwards, and the ship be carried over it. Another
very great advantage was, that such a breakwater might
be moored for experiment in any part of the Sound, and
be easily removed to any other part of it, if such removal
should be desirable. The objection to floats of wood is
the danger of their being destroyed by the worm ; but,
many years before, Sir Samuel had caused wood steeped in
oil to be sunk for experiment in Plymouth dockyard, and
it was found to have remained untouched after a long
period, though similar pieces of timber, unoiled, were soon
destroyed ; so that on a moderate calculation of the com-
pound interest on the money to be sunk on the proposed
breakwater, compared to that on the floating one, the
latter might be occasionally repaired, and eventually re-
newed, still leaving a great balance in favour of the float-
ing breakwater.

Time has shown that Sir Samuel's apprehensions have
been verified. The breakwater which was scarcely needed
has been constructed ; it has not only covered the best
anchoring ground; but Causand Bay, which formerly
afforded so much shelter, has been so much disturbed by
the current now driven through it, that ships can no longer
take refuge there. In bad weather merchant vessels have
been driven upon the artificial rock and lost. The Sound
is no longer a roadstead for ships seeking refuge in foul
weather, since behind the breakwater vessels require to be
piloted in, and when there, if numerous, they must be
placed by a harbour-master. The long sea slope has
proved incapable of. resisting storms, so that ten or twelve
thousand a year has been spent upon it for repair ; and
for the protection of the lighthouse, it has been neces-
sary to have recourse to an upright wall at that part of
the long slope.

u

290 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

The breakwater, from its immense cost, from the length
of time which its execution has required, and from its
imposing appearance, has in public estimation been re-
garded as an important and beneficial work : but the prac-
tical benefit derived from it is far outweighed by the mis-
chief it has caused, and which in a time of war * will be
still more fully disclosed.

* See Report of Dover Harbour Commission, and Appendix.

291

CHAP. XII.

Designs for Chatham — Improvements in Dredging Machines — Inadequate
Assistance in carrying out his Designs — "Works at Portsmouth — Ply-
mouth Breakwater — His Office abolished — Eemuneration and Com-
pensation — Counter-Claims of the Navy Board — Continued Designs —
Sheerness — Employment of Women — Anonymous Charges — Departure
for France, 1814— Eeturn of Napoleon from Elba — Bemoval to Tours
and Paris — Death of his Eldest Son, 1816 — Journey to Angouleme —
Eeturn to England, 1827 — Fate of the Experimental Vessels, Arrow, Net-
ley, Eling, &c. — Transport Service — Interest of Money sunk in Public
Works — Form of Vessels — Payment of the Navy — Illness and Death.

The previous narrative renders it unnecessary to detail
with like fulness the operations or plans in which Bentham
was subsequently engaged. It has already brought into
view the extent and the nature of his services ; it has
shown that his calculations were grounded on the soundest
science and the truest economy, and has disclosed the
many influences which were at work to thwart changes in
old practices, or the introduction of new methods which
could not fail to secure a vast saving to the nation and in-
creased efficiency in the public service. An amount of
neglect or opposition, which would have roused the anger
or chilled the energies of weaker men, could not deter him
from carrying on his arduous labours in every subject
which came within the compass of his duty.

The rejection of his plans did not prevent him from
rendering valuable aid in carrying out those which were
preferred to his own. When the Admiralty had come to a
determination to enlarge the dockvard at Sheerness rather
than construct any new naval arsenal to the eastward, he
directed his efforts towards rendering Chatham efficiently

u 2

292 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

subservient to Sheerness. He had known the place well
from his boyhood, having there passed the greater part of
his apprenticeship, during which he had been, as he said in
a letter to Lord Spencer, "a great navigator of the Medway."
The outline of his designs is given in a paper entitled i( Im-
provements proposed for the Port of Chatham." Among
these are specified the straightening the course of the river
Medway from its mouth up to Rochester bridge — the afford-
ing a basin contiguous to the dockyard capable of holding
fifty or sixty sail of the line — the affording a similar basin
for private trade near the town of Rochester, as well as other
basins capable of holding the whole navy — the providing two
channels from Sheerness harbour up to Chatham dockyard
and the town of Rochester, in which channels of still water
vessels may sail when the wind is favourable but the tide
in the natural channel adverse, or wherein they may be
rowed, towed, or warped when both wind and tide are ad-
verse in the central channel — the affording a great increase
of backwater for scouring and deepening the bed of the
river up to the capital. By this plan, among other results,
the ground dug out of the cut for the secondary river
would serve to widen the existing river walls, not only for
the roadway, but for habitation or other purposes; and, being
situated between the two rivers, would acquire an extra-
ordinary value.

In executing such extensive works, both as regarded
security of the works themselves and their economical per-
formance, his well-proved success gave him confidence
for the future. His dredging machine was working well
in twenty-seven feet water at Sheerness; by degrees im-
proved apparatus had been added to it ; and for the for-
mation of new ground, the mud barges which he had pro-
posed in the year 1800 were competent to the delivery
of mud or soil at a considerable height above the level
of the water in which they floated. To render the
steam dredging vessel and its apparatus competent to
work in very shallow water, or even on dry land, he

STEAM DREDGING MACHINE. 293

further contrived a modification of this vessel by which,
when put to clear away high banks of mud, or even to
dig and raise solid ground, the vessel with its apparatus
would, as it advanced, clear a channel for itself.

There is no doubt but that the public service would
have derived much greater benefit from the exercise of
Bentham's genius if he had been properly supported.
But his department would not supply adequate assist-
ance for carrying on even the usual routine of its business.
He therefore proposed that he might be allowed to en-
gage for a short time, at a guinea a day, Mr. Edmund
Aikin, who had shown by his publications that he had
studied both ancient and modern architecture, and who was
willing, and from his practical experience capable, of fol-
lowing up Sir Samuel's ideas of economy. Sir Samuel had
grounded this proposal on the fact of his having several im-
portant works to plan, and that he (to use his own words)
" looked upon it as very desirable, after so much of the
design for a public work is determined on as depends on
considerations of use, that more attention should be paid
than hitherto has been in regard to the works of my de-
partment, particularly those relative to the dockyards, to
the giving them an appropriate beauty and grandeur of
appearance." The Admiralty replied that they were "not
aware of any buildings or works ordered to be taken in
hand which require any particular beauty or grandeur of
appearance, and therefore cannot comply with the request
of the civil architect and engineer, who has already suffi-
cient assistance to carry on the duties of his office."

The assistance he asked for being refused, he determined
to engage Mr. Aikin at his oivn expense, to receive him in
his house and at his table, as well as an additional draughts-
man, at the cost of three guineas a day for months — a sum
exceeding the amount of the salary he was himself receiving.

His attention at this time was devoted to the com-
pletion of his designs for Sheerness. In their fulness of

U 3

294 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTIIAM.

minute detail they embrace every want which applies to
arsenals in general, while they specially provide for the
particular requirements at Sheerness. Soon after these
designs were transmitted to the Navy Board, he was called
upon to state what service he was employed on at Ports-
mouth. In reply he mentioned, among many other sub-
jects, the testing of copper sheathing, about which doubts
had again been raised ; the extension of metal mills, the
design for an enlarged millwright's shop, seasoning-houses,
covered docks, &c.

Not long afterwards, the Comptroller of the Navy wrote
that "Mr. Whitbread has moved for copies of all your
minutes in regard to the breakwater in Plymouth Sound ;
they have been all sent to the Admiralty, in pursuance of
the order of the House of. Commons, but Mr. Whitbread
altered his order last night, and contents himself with hav-
ing those of the 24th September and the 4th October last,
with the estimate attached ; and they alone were presented
by Mr. Croker and ordered to be printed." The day fol-
lowing he learnt from a friend that the rest were withheld,
as containing reflections on Mr. Eennie. This fear of laying
such "reflections" before the public might, perhaps, be
taken as a proof of their justice. Had they been false, their
refutation would certainly have followed their examina-
tion in the House of Commons. The papers so withheld he
forwarded to Mr. Abbot, Speaker of the House of Commons,
who in his letter in reply said, — " As to Eennie's credit
with the Admiralty Board, and his discredit with the Navy
Board, it seems to me that you are called upon by every
motive, official and personal, to discuss his plans and pro-
ceedings, although it is not improbable that the premature
and apparently irregular favour given by the Admiralty to
his projects may have made them more angry at the
freedom with which his conduct was treated in the paper
(22nd August)." Again : " In truth the Board collectively,
as well as yourself individually, would make but a sorry

WOEKS AT SHEEEXESS. 295

figure upon any investigation of this business, if it should
appear that all or any of you had, in disregard of antece-
dent practice, and dereliction of your specific duties,
abstained from making every representation upon so im-
portant a concern which your official judgment dictated."
Many other subjects were discussed in the same long letter.
At its end the Speaker adds, — " I will not conclude upon
the main subject without adding that I do not regret your
not having had your expected audience of Mr. Yorke, for
be assured that you do yourself infinitely more justice
by delivering yourself in writing, than by any personal
conference. Few men surpass you in clearness and strength
of statement upon paper of whatever you wish should
make a deep and lasting impression ; but in audiences and
conferences a thousand accidental circumstances may pre-
vent anybody (and you quite as much as anybody I know)
from saying all that he intended, or in the way intended ;
and nothing can insure that a conversation is rightly un-
derstood or remembered."

His endeavours to provide a complete naval arsenal to
the eastward were followed by the adoption of Mr. Eennie's
plans for Sheerness. It is but justice, therefore, to Sir
Samuel to give a comparison of the estimated expense of
each design, and the accommodations which they respec-
tively afforded, — this comparison having been made at
the time, 1812 : —

According to According to Sir

Mr. Rennie's plan. Samuel Bentham's plan.

£1,000,000

2

2

2

Estimated expense .... £1,762,495

Ordinary docks ..... 3

Completely covered and enclosed docks

for the largest ships . . . None .

Docks for occasional use for the largest

ships None .

Docks for frigates .... 1 .

Wharfage in the interior of a basin where-
at ships of the line could lie to fit . 4 .

Length of the above wharfage in feet . 1,600

Wharfage towards the river for vessels
of different draughts to lie at low as
well as at high water . . Less than 800 . . 1,300

U 4

12

3,900

296 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

As to the estimate, Mr. Rennie's was an estimate in the
usual way, but it was accompanied with expressions of
apprehension that from the badness of the ground un-
looked-for sources of expenditure might arise. Sir
Samuel's estimate, on the contrary, for the under-water
works on the bad soil, was based on prices for which the
same contractors offered to contract, — engaging at the
same time to run all risks.

Shortly after that, whilst confined at home by illness,
but still labouring in his official duty, he received notice
that the office he held at the Navy Board was abolished !
He had not before had the most distant or slightest hint
that such a measure had been in contemplation.

The abolition had been sanctioned by an order in
Council, dated the 28th November, 1812, and the fact was
communicated to Sir Samuel by the following letter from
the First Lord of the Admiralty: —

" Admiralty, December 3rd, 1812.
"Sir, — An Order in Council having been issued, directing
that a new arrangement of the Navy Board shall take place,
w r herebv the civil architect and engineer is no longer to be a
member of that Board, and the office is abolished, I would
suggest to you the propriety of soliciting from the Prince Regent
such remuneration for your services and compensation for the
loss of your office as his Royal Highness in Council may be
pleased to allow. I shall be happy to render any assistance in
my power towards your obtaining such allowance to a proper
and reasonable extent ; and as you will now be at liberty to
offer your professional services to the public at large, I have no
doubt but that the Navy Board will be ready to avail themselves
of your skill, whenever the work to be performed shall be of
such a nature as in their opinion to require your advice and
superintendence. " I am, Sir,

" Your most obedient and humble servant,

" Melville."

The latter part of this communication might have been
construed as an intended insult, had not the preceding

ABOLITION OF HIS OFFICE. 297

sentences manifested good will. Architecture and civil
engineering never could have been considered as Sir
Samuel's profession. Naval architecture might have
been so termed, but his profession, if any particular one,
was military. Astonished and hurt though he certainly
was on perusal of this communication, he immediately
requested Lord Melville's instructions as to the mode in
which he should apply to the Prince Eegent. His Lord-
ship, on the 5th, " recommended his presenting a memo-
rial at the Council Office, founded on the Order in Council.
In the usual course of business in that department it
would be referred to the Board of Admiralty for their
opinion."

The abolition of the office was not communicated to
the Navy Board till the 5th December.

He immediately submitted the memorial.

That Lord Melville was sincerely desirous of amply re-
munerating Sir Samuel for his services there cannot be a
doubt. His Lordship took measures to effect this purpose in
a manner which seemed most friendly and satisfactory,
by desiring to see Sir Samuel's near connection and friend
the Speaker, who declined the interview, and stated his
reason for so doing.

"Admiralty, December 11$, 1812.

" My dear Sir, — My motive for wishing to converse with you
on the subject of Commissioner Bentham's situation, was a desire
to promote his interest, and remunerate his services to as great
an extent as the circumstances of the case would allow. He has,
at my suggestion, presented a memorial to Council, praying a
compensation for his services; and it was upon the amount of
that allowance that I wished to have had the pleasure of seeing
you, being desirous that it should, if possible, be equal to the
expectations of himself and his friends.

" I have the honour to be, my dear Sir,

" Your very faithful and obedient servant,

"Melville.

" The Right Hon. the Speaker."

298 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

But the question of Sir Samuel's compensation and re-
muneration liugered on, and the Speaker, in a letter to Sir
Samuel Kidbrook (3rd January, 1813), says, — "I have
not heard one word from Lord Melville, or of course I
should have told you."

" Perhaps you will begin to think I was not very wrong
in declining the verbal invitation to a conference with the
First Lord ; for even when solicited in writing, it does not
appear to have been very rapid in its productiveness. But
silence on all this business is best. Anything more may
do harm, and give your opponents a handle which they
seem quite ready to lay hold of."

On the 12th February Sir Samuel was informed that
the Prince Eegent had referred his memorial for the con-
sideration and opinion of the Admiralty, and that their
Lordships desired him to state his age and the time he
had been in the service, specifying the different offices in
which he had served.

On receipt of this, he was advised at the same time to
submit to their Lordships a brief statement of the services
he had rendered. This necessarily was a work of some
time, as he determined not to mention any one of them
without reference to the official written documents in
relation to each, so that it was not till the 31st March
that he was enabled to comply with their Lordships'
commands.

In this paper, after giving full details, he submitted
that his was not a case of superannuation. It was not on
the score of age, infirmity, or incapacity that compensa-
tion had been prayed for, but in consequence of the abo-
lition of the office he held by patent.

He urged that he had pursued the course pointed out
by him for the effecting naval improvements at his oivn
personal expense, without receiving any salary or pecuniary
aid from the public purse, — that he was placed in both
the offices he held, without any solicitation of his own ; that

REMUNERATION FOR HIS SERVICES. 299

he had been allowed to expect that a salary of 2000/.
a year would be assigned to him ; and that " it was in
the persuasion that I should receive this salary that I
relinquished the emoluments and honours that awaited me
in the service of a foreign power."

He continued: "As to remuneration for services, I
cannot but hope that it will be grounded on a considera-
tion of the benefits which the public has derived from my
services. For the purpose, therefore, of enabling their
Lordships to take a view of them with the more fa-
cility, I have drawn up a statement, which I take the
liberty of submitting herewith to their Lordships' con-
sideration."

He added that in this statement he had not noticed any
services that could be called in the regular line of his duty,
" but have confined myself to such services as originated in
myself, and being of a kind for the non-rendering of
which no blame could have attached to me."

Sir Samuel put a copy of these papers into the Speaker's
hands ; but it was not till the 5th May that he returned
them, saying, " Unexpectedly I found some hours yester-
day which I could employ in reading the enclosed papers.
I am highly gratified by their contents.

" Upon the scrap of paper which accompanies this note
you will see some typographical queries which, if you
can make them out, may be worth your attention." Some
recommendations as to particulars of proceedings fol-
lowed.

The " scrap of paper " noted fifteen different pages from
the general title to page 166,--- a proof that the Speaker
had perused the whole with attention ; and at the bottom
of that scrap he wrote,— "A noble Monument of Sagacity,
Industry, and Perseverance."

The eulogium was gratifying, and showed that the at-
tention which the Speaker paid to Bentham's case was
founded upon a personal investigation of its real merits.

300 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

Time passed on. Sir Samuel's salary was at an end,
and neither compensation nor remuneration was granted ;
so that on the 19th May he wrote to the Speaker, begging
him now to endeavour to ascertain whether the settle-
ment were likely to take place which Lord Melville had
promised to bring to a satisfactory and speedy conclusion.
The Speaker on the 20th enclosed it to his Lordship, re-
questing his attention to it, — " As," he said, " I take a very
sincere concern in what respects General Bentham's situa-
tion and interests, I cannot forbear expressing my earnest
hope that your Lordship's favourable intentions towards
him may be now carried into effect."

His Lordship the same day wrote in answer, — " I do not
wonder at General Bentham's beginning to feel that a very
long delay has occurred in bringing his business to a close.
A Bill, however, is preparing on which I have had some
conversation with Mr. Yansittart, and have desired Mr.
Croker to settle with him as to the bringing it forward.
There seemed to be a doubt some days ago as to whether
it ought to be confined to the Naval Department, or ex-
tended to all other branches of the public service where
pensions were to be given by order in Council, and after-
wards voted annually in the naval estimates. The latter
seems a very innocent and safe power to leave in the hands
of the Crown ; and I can scarcely think it was intended to
be taken away."

In a conference which the Speaker had had with Lord
Melville, his Lordship said that he considered that the full
salary of office should be granted as compensation for its
loss. As to remuneration for extra services, when the
Speaker enumerated some of the most important of them,
Lord Melville exclaimed, on the mention of the metal
mills, " There he stands upon a rock."*

The next document is a letter from his Lordship to the
Speaker (11th June, 1813), in which he says, — "I cannot

* This was related to Sir Samuel by the Speaker.

AMOUNT OF REMUNERATION. 301

come to the conclusion that I shall be able to propose
more for him than the annual allowance which I men-
tioned to you ;" and in reference to remuneration for extra
services, after speaking of the need there would be to go
to parliament, he adds that, independent of that, " I think
we should find it an awkward precedent to deal with." He
added, " I am very desirous to have the matter of the pen-
sion settled in the first place," and said that Mr. Croker
had given notice of the Bill to be brought to amend the
Superannuation Act, adding in a postscript, — "I think I
formerly mentioned to you that I should not deem it just
that his income should be diminished in consequence of
the abolition of his office."

The Speaker communicated this letter the same evening
to Sir Samuel, who replied on the following noon : —

" It is some consolation to have such an assurance that
my income will not be diminished in consequence of the
abolition of my office, and I trust that the manner of doing
it will make the 'pension free of all deductions, or make it
nominal in amount sufficient to cover them, and that I
shall receive this pension from the day when my salary
ceased.

"It also gives me much satisfaction to see that Lord
Melville seems to admit that my services are not unworthy
of distinct remuneration, whatever may be the difficulties
to be encountered in the obtaining it. As to the prece-
dent it would afford, considering it in a general point of
view, without regard to my particular case, the rewarding
any extra and separate services so clearly beyond what
are required by the tenor of an official appointment — as
documents will show my services to have been — could not
but prove highly beneficial to the public, since a public
officer would thereby have grounds to hope that by exert-
ing himself beyond the ordinary duties of his situation,
he might obtain for his family some provision propor-
tionate to what he might otherwise have realised had he

302 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

employed the same exertions for his own private emolu-
ment"

These opinions Sir Samuel had entertained from a very
early period of life ; and the greater his insight became into
the management of public concerns, the stronger became his
conviction that, to induce men of real intelligence to enter
or continue in the service of the public, it was essential to
hold out to them examples in which extraordinary abilities
and extraordinary industry should be specially rewarded.
The want of such a prospect has actually driven many able
men to quit the public service and embark in private trade.
Yet examples are not wanting where Government has ac-
corded remuneration for extraordinary services.

On the 13th the Speaker, addressing Lord Melville, said,
— " As to the remuneration General Bentham claims, and
the difficulties stated by your Lordship, they seem to be so
much balanced, that I do not, for my own part, see what is
to be done for the present ; and that subject, I should think,
must necessarily be reserved for subsequent consideration,
although it is impossible for General Bentham to acquiesce
in any imputation on his conduct which might result from
the abolition of his office, or to allow that he has been an
unprofitable servant to the public.

"The impediments, however, to the allowance of his
claims for remuneration, and also to the allowance of his
other claims for the expenses of his Russian mission
(which expenses the Navy Board have not thought them-
selves at liberty to allow), place General Bentham alto-
gether in a situation of considerable hardship. And I should
hope that the very difficulty of recompensing his services,
which are not denied to have been meritorious, may induce
your Lordship the more willingly to render him every
just assistance in obtaining or scrutinising the payment of
what he considers to be a strict debt from the public on
his Kussian accounts, and for which I understand he has
already memorialised the Treasury."

EXPENSES OF THE KUSSIAN MISSION. 303

Sir Samuel's claims on account of the Eussian mission
arose from the disallowance by the Navy Board of the
monthly sum which he had charged, conformably to the
promise of ministers on sending him to that country.

His accounts had shown that a sum of 5308/. 18s. 3c?.
was due to him ; but the Navy Board having recommended
that his allowance should amount to less than half the sum
which, on the faith of ministers, he had depended on, stated,
on the contrary, that a balance of 816?. 14s. 2^d. was due
from him to the public. They had repeatedly required him
to repay that sum, and at length informed him that, if not
paid by a certain day, he would be proceeded against
legally. But, fully convinced of the justice of his claims,
he replied that his reasons for not paying in that sum
were that, " having accepted that mission under certain
promises which still appear to me to have entitled me to
the balance stated in my accounts, I have intended, and
still intend, to present a memorial on the subject."

It was not, however, till the 30th December, 1815, that
the Navy Board acquainted him that "the Admiralty,
having signified to us, by their order dated the 11th ultimo,
that they have had under their deliberate consideration the
whole of the papers on the subject of the balance claimed
by you on your accounts during the time you were employed
in Eussia for the purpose of building ships for His Ma-
jesty's service, — together with the opinion of the Attorney
and Solicitor-General and Counsel for the affairs of the
Admiralty, ' that the reference which was made to Count
Woronzoff, with his decision thereon, is binding as to the
rate of allowance which tvas to be made to you ; ' and
having been pleased to allow your claims to the following
extent" (here follow details of accounts) "we have to inform
you that, in consequence of these directions, we have caused
a bill to be made out to you in payment of 3467?. Ss. 8c?.,
as shown by the enclosed statement."

This decision of their Lordships disallowed interest on

304 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

the sum due to Sir Samuel, which, for the many years he
had been deprived of the capital, was a very serious pecu-
niary loss to him. Up to this time (the end of 1815)
the interest, reckoned at 5 per cent., amounted to upwards
of 1600/. Nor was this the only pecuniary loss which
he had sustained in consequence of the mission. He had
been obliged at the outset to sell about 2000/. worth of
investments in the public funds to provide the outfit for
the mission. This was sold at the low war prices of 1805 ;
its repayment was now at a time of peace, when stocks
had risen, so that the repurchase into the public funds of
the sum which he had withdrawn for this service was made
at a heavy loss.

But this transaction affords another example of the in-
conceivable disregard which the Naval Department exhibits
of the value of the interest on capital, — inconceivable, be-
cause so great a portion of the annual sums which Govern-
ment has to provide is, on the very face of the annual budget,
to pay interest on capital borrowed by the State. It has
been seen that Sir Samuel repeatedly exhibited, but with-
out avail, the losses habitually sustained by the public
from a disregard in the Naval Department of the value of
interest on money.

Even his arrears of salary, now a twelvemonth overdue,
had not been paid ; but, habitually limiting his expenses to
the extent of his means, he reduced his establishment
to the utmost, and contrived to exist, without debt or
encroachment on capital, till at length the Admiralty de-
termined that his pension should be to the amount of what
he had hitherto received from Government, namely 1000/.
a year as Commissioner of the Navy, with the addition of
an allowance of 500/., but both only nominal sums, sub-
ject to considerable deductions.

It might be supposed that this pension even had been
granted, not on the merits of the case, but owing to the
interest felt and expressed by the Speaker. But the

DECLAKATION ON OATH. 305

letters above quoted prove that not even the efforts of one
so politically situated as the Speaker, and so eminently
distinguished for uprightness as a man, could outweigh
the hostile efforts of persons whose interests had been
unavoidably thwarted by Sir Samuel for the public be-
nefit.

It was notorious that many officers in the Civil Depart-
ment of the Navy profited more or less by presents, if not
by what could properly be denominated bribes. Sir Samuel
on various occasions had been proffered emoluments to
influence his opinion, and customary percentages from
merchants. It, therefore, occurred to him immediately on
the abolition of his office, that he would follow the ex-
ample afforded by Lord Macartney (as stated in Barrow's
life of that nobleman, when he left his government at
Madras, and again on his giving up his government at the
Cape), and make a similar declaration on oath. Accordingly
he declared on oath, — " That although in this country and
in Russia various proffers have been made me, directly and
indirectly, of shares of profits, percentages, and presents
from persons, on the eligibilhVy of whose proposals I have
had to give opinions, whose bills I have had to check, on

the fitness of whose works I have had to judge yet I

never have, during the time I have held those offices,
directly or indirectly, derived any emolument whatever
beyond my public and official salary and allowances."

This declaration made on oath, and duly verified in the
customary manner, was sent by Sir Samuel to Lord Melville.

After the first surprise occasioned by the abolition of
the office had passed away, and the mortification, it may
be added, that eminent services should thus be treated,
Sir Samuel occupied himself assiduously in completing
his statements in regard to the proposals that had been
referred to him.

He also drew up a paper on the employment of females,
having observed and lamented the depravity of a large

x

306 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

proportion of the female population at our great seaports ;
and this was not confined to the very lowest class, but un-
fortunately, in too many instances, extended upwards to
the daughters of workmen in the dockyards, where they
were exposed to much temptation. Even the bringing
their fathers' dinners to the dockyard was a pernicious
practice, as leading them abroad, and unsettling them
for steady occupation at their homes. After much reflec-
tion, he felt assured that, by affording useful and remu-
nerative employment to young women, many might be
kept out of temptation's way, while their earnings would
much assist the parents of numerous families. It was a
most difficult attempt to make : general opinion was against
it, as well as that of some of the persons most devoted to
him, who foresaw the opposition to be encountered. He
had, however, determined to make the attempt, had his
ropery and sail-cloth manufactory been established. There
were some parts of the work to be performed quite suitable
for female hands and strength. He proposed to place women
only as superintendents of those operations, and to have no
admixture of boys or men. He had, besides, in view the
extension of this manufactory to the making up of such
articles as sacks and bags and colours, and, by degrees, to
that of slops generally, — articles which are known to
be often so ill put together as to require more or less
resewing.

With these minutes terminated Sir Samuel's communi-
cations with the Navy Board, as required by the duties
of his late office. He thus concisely called attention to
objects of public interest, though he could no longer have
a part in carrying them into effect.

This duty to the public done, his last letter to the Board
became a duty, as he said, " I owe to myself," to take his
own words from that letter. An anonymous letter on the
subject of the works at Sheerness, addressed to the Right
Honourable Spencer Percival, and transmitted by the Ad-

STATEMENT OF SEETICES. 307

miralty to the Navy Board, had contained aspersions on
his probity. He was absent from town on the receipt of
that letter ; and on his return it was only accidentally that
he heard of it, when, on expressing his intention of making
some observations on it to exonerate him, his colleagues
assured him that no suspicions to his prejudice could be
entertained on the subject, either by the Board or by their
Lordships, so that he did not withdraw time from the
business of his office for the purpose of answering that
attack upon him. " But now, however, on the abolition of
the office of Civil Architect and Surveyor, it has become a
duty I owe to myself to have a written record, showing the
total want of foundation for the unjustifiable assertions
contained in the builder's letter."

The accusations brought against him had been that he
had connived at and caused a private offer to be made for
the carrying on the works at Sheerness ; that it ope-
rated to the exclusion of all other builders ; that he had
artfully contrived to get this offer made through the resi-
dent Commissioner ; that though it was his duty to pro-
mote competition, he had prevented it by recommending
work to be done by persons (known and responsible),
instead of taking the lowest offer by public tender.

In a full and minute reply he showed the impossibility
of any artful connivance by a reference to letters and
documents ; and that, so far from having prevented compe-
tition, he had been more successful in regard to those
works in obtaining offers for their execution at lower prices
a than it is usual to expect from any officer in the public
service, or to find effected in regard to public works of
this nature."

And further, for' the satisfaction of his friends, he drew
up and published a statement of his services, copies of
which he forwarded, amongst others, to the Earls Spencer,
Liverpool, Grey, and Mulgrave, as well as to Mr. Croker

x 2

308 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAK.

and Mr. George Eose. From the Eight Honourable Thos.
Grenville, who had been First Lord of the Admiralty
during his absence in Eussia, he received the following
reply : —

" Cleveland Square, 6th Jul//, 1813.
'* Dear Sir, — I have this moment received the favour of your
note, together with the book which accompanied it, for which I
beg to offer my best acknowledgments. Nobody who has been
connected in any degree with the details of the naval service in
later years can be ignorant of the advantages which it has
derived from your exertions. I shall be sorry, for the sake of
that service, if the statement which you publish announces a
probable close of your labours in it. I should be sorry, for your
sake, if I could believe that there was any danger of liberal
remuneration being withheld from laborious and meritorious
service, such as yours has been."

The fatigue and anxiety attendant on his endeavours
to promote the interest of that branch of the service to
which he belonged had materially injured his health.
When in the following year the King of France was
restored, and the continent became open, he was advised
to try the effects of a warmer climate, and temporary
absence was thought desirable from scenes where his ser-
vices had merited both reward and consideration, but
where of late his best endeavours had been thwarted or
repressed. To give his sons an opportunity of seeing
France and Italy before the age at which a steady applica-
tion to their future profession would be requisite, afforded
another reason for spending two or three years abroad.
In the autumn, therefore, of 1814, he embarked, with all
his family, from Portsmouth for Havre.

France at that time appeared in an aspect totally differ-
ent from what he had seen it under the ancient rqjime, and
wholly unlike what in the course of a few years it became.
At the time of his landing, the people generally were
enthusiastic in their eulogies of the English ; officials, as

ARRIVAL m FRANCE. 309

well as others, were anxious to show their good will ;
so that at the custom-house his baggage, including some
plate and other articles,' either prohibited or subject to
high duties, were passed free. He had intended to remain
for a time at Blois; but he heard on the spot that the
winters were severe — sometimes cold enough for the river
to be frozen over at the bridge ; and as he could find
nothing suitable at Tours, he went down the Loire, and
took a furnished house at an easy distance from Saumur,
in which he established himself for the winter, providing
good masters for his children, and making acquaintance
with several families of the neighbourhood. Towards spring
of the following year, signs of some contemplated move-
ment for the restoration of Buonaparte began to appear.
Under the pretext of selling needles, petty pedlars in-
sinuated themselves into the cottages of the peasantry
and little farmers, vaunting the glory which the nation
had acquired under the Emperor. Some of these men
were supposed to be able men of a higher class, disguised
with a view to influence the opinions of the rural popula-
tion. Others, probably agents meditating a revolution,
sang ballads to the disparagement of Louis XVIIL, to ren-
der him ridiculous in the eyes of the people ; one especially
represented the monarch as a potato-eater. Potatoes were
not for many years afterwards in common use, and they
were despised as an article of food. After a little time
tokens of approaching insurrection appeared in higher
classes : the Sous-Prefet of Saumur, at a ball during the
carnival, had his apartments ornamented with bees in the
hangings ; this was shortly before the 1st of March. The
decoration was applauded, of course, by Buonapartists, but
severely commented on by Royalists. A pleasurable agita-
tion was apparent in the one party, anxious dismay in the
other. At length, when the landing of the Emperor was
known, his adherents were active, and Sir Samuel felt it
but prudent to escape from a place which seemed likely

x 3

310 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BBNTHAM.

to be a seat of war. He therefore applied for and obtained,
through his friend the Count de Segur, a special passport
from the Minister of the Interior for his safe and free pas-
sage across France to any of the other continental states.
By the time it arrived, matters had assumed a warlike
aspect in the surrounding country. The discharge of mus-
ketry, sometimes of cannon, was occasionally heard in the
neighbourhood. Men, evidently from the whiteness and
delicacy of their hands gentlemen, but disguised in the
peasant's dress, came inquiring the way to some town or vil-
lage in La Vendee. All boats on the Loire were withdrawn,
and the passage of the bridge across it was about to be inter-
dicted, when Sir Samuel and his family took their departure.
By this time the influx of English families had been consi-
derable in many parts of France ; Tours was particularly
chosen by many as a place of temporary residence; and, as
might be expected under such circumstances, British sub-
jects easily made acquaintance with each other. On con-
sultation with them, there appeared to be less danger in
remaining there than there would be in travelling through
the eastern frontiers, which were about to be the seat of
war. The whole family remained quietly in a country
house near that town.

One night, after the battle of Waterloo, the noise of a
carriage passing rapidly over the bridge was loud enough to
wake the family, though half a mile distant, — it was so re-
markable that it attracted the notice of all. It was Buona-
parte himself flying for his freedom and his life. The
reinstatement of Louis XVIII. made little change at Tours
beyond that of again turning the board, on one side of which
was painted " Rue de la Republique," on the other " Rue
Royale." All was tranquil and seemed to promise peace,
till a part of the Imperial army was sent from the north to
Tours. These troops seemed from their first arrival dis-
contented and menacing; a day was fixed for the celebra-
tion of a " Te Deum " in the cathedral on the reinstate-

VISIT TO PARIS. 311

ment of the king. In the way to the cathedral, by some
back streets, groups of this Annee de la Loire, as it
was called, were seen scowling and whispering with each
other; and in the sacred building itself, an appearance of
general uneasiness rendered it prudent for an Englishman
to return home. The next day a kind of domiciliary visit
was made by officers of this army to houses suspected to be
adverse to them, and altogether matters bore a threatening
appearance. Sir Samuel again decamped, going by Le
Mans to Paris. At Le Mans all was enthusiasm for the
king. He found Paris in the occupation of the allies.
His friend Count Michel, now Prince Woronzoff, had a
high command in the Eussian army. Sir Samuel had
the pleasure of renewing acquaintance with him and
many old friends, amongst others the Duke de Richelieu,
now at the head of the ministry, the Count de Segur
and his sons, Monsieur de la Harpe, Count and Baron de
Damas, the Duke de Liancourt. On his first calling on the
Duke de Richelieu he would not give his name, from a
fancy to see whether some twenty years had so altered
him as to prevent his being recognised. They met at
first as strangers ; but almost instantly the Duke, French
fashion, threw his arms round him, exclaiming, " Mon
cher Bentham." From this time to his Grace's death
an intimate friendly intercourse subsisted between them.
The Duke, as a young man, had been remarkable for a
soberness of manner, thought, and conduct different from
the generality of young Frenchmen. Bentham used to
tell him he was the only Frenchman he had ever known
to arrive at years of discretion before thirty. Amongst
the English with whom he associated, were his old friends
Lord and Lady Colchester : he also made acquaintance
with the great traveller Baron von Humboldt, and many
other scientific men of different nations. The autumn
and early part of the winter were spent most agreeably
in such society ; but a fatal blow was awaiting him. His

x 4

312 LIFE OP SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

eldest son, a most promising youth of sixteen, was seized
with a lingering malady, and died in March of the year
1816. The father bore the loss with resignation, but his
sufferings were acute. Many a little incident, and many
a scrap of an unfinished letter, found after his own death,
bear testimony to the depth of his sorrow. When his boy
was interred, it was the father who threw the first earth
upon the coffin.

All his plans were now disarranged, but his own health
seemed to require a warmer climate. The illness of a
daughter forbade immediate travelling; but he removed
from the scene of his loss to Arcueil, where, lodged in a part
of Monsieur Berthollet's chateau, he had opportunity of
seeing many scientific friends of that distinguished chemist.
Among those of Madame Berthollet was Voltaire's " belle
and bonne," who paid a weekly visit of a couple of days.
The lady, tall and thin, was still active, and retained the
manners of the old regime.

Previously to setting out for the south, the Duke de
Eichelieu gave him letters of introduction to the Prefets
of all the departments through which he had any chance
of passing.

A visit of a few days to Count Chaptal and his family
near Amboise was very interesting. He possessed a large
fund of scientific knowledge, and communicated it agree-
ably ; and his manufactory of beet-root sugar was in full
activity,— its products excellent.

On arriving at Angouleme, autumn was too far ad-
vanced for further progress that year ; the town afforded
agreeable society, into which he was introduced at the
Prefet's table. He therefore hired a furnished house
half a mile from the town, and took possession of it for
winter quarters.

Sir Samuel Eentham remained on the continent till
1827 ; but his retirement did not cool his ardour for
improvements in the department of his predilection —

FATE OF HIS EXPERIMENTAL VESSELS. 313

the naval. After an absence of twelve years he returned
home, with the determination of publishing some essays
which he had in preparation, accompanied by a variety of
documents, chiefly selected from his official papers.

His experimental vessels had all of them, with the ex-
ception of the Eling, come to their end in actual service.
The Arrow in 1805, her complement (including a dozen
passengers) being 132 men and boys, was in company
with the bomb vessel Acheron in the Mediterranean, and
had thirty-two merchantmen from Malta under con-
voy, when, with the Acheron, she attacked two French
frigates, the Hortense and the Incorruptible,— each of
forty guns, and with a complement of 640 men. After
a close action of an hour and twenty minutes, the
Arrow, being much disabled, and compelled to strike,
settled on her beam ends, and went down, but not without
rendering the French frigates unfit for service. The
vessels under convoy were saved by this gallant action;
and in consequence the captain of the Arrow was posted
as his reward. However brave, no officer in any other
sloop, supported only by a bomb vessel, would have ven-
tured to attack two frigates of such force as were the
Hortense and Incorruptible.

The Dart, after having been thirteen years in active
service, was taken to pieces at the Barbadoes, 1809, for what
reason no information could be obtained, but probably
from damage received in action.

The Eedbridge was unfortunately wrecked in 1808, but
the circumstances are not known.

The Millbrook was said also to have been wrecked, but
the vessel to which this accident happened was a merchant-
man of the same name. It is not known how long she
continued in serviee.

The Netley, after ten years' active service, was captured
in the West Indies by the French frigate Thetis, accom-
panied by the brig Sylphe ; was afterwards retaken, and

314 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BEXTHAM.

employed again in the British service under the name of
Unique.

Lastly, the Elingwas broken up at Portsmouth in the year
1814, having been not less than eighteen years in service.
As this occurred after the time of the abolition of Sir
Samuel's last office, he had no personal opportunity of as-
certaining her state and appearances ; but, considering how
desirable it would have been on this occasion to examine
whether the innovations introduced in her construction
with a view to strength had been successful, he wrote to
the Navy Board, urging the expediency of directing that
particular attention should be paid to the state of connection
in which the several parts of the vessel might be found.
He never received any reply to that letter, or could obtain
any official account of her appearances; he therefore en-
deavoured to obtain particulars from a shipwright officer
(Joseph Helby), then residing near Portsmouth ; but his
answer was, "No one can give me any information con-
cerning her. The only information I can give respecting
her is what I had from Sir H. Peake, in London ; he was
at Portsmouth during her being taken to pieces ; he told
me that her timbers and bottom were sound and good; the
only defects were the bulkheads, which were of fir ; and
the fir generally was perished in a great measure." " I do
not believe she ever had any serious repairs." From this
and other sources he understood that this vessel still exhi-
bited proofs of the efficiency of the expedients that had
been resorted to in her construction for giving strength ;
while her apparent defects had arisen from the decay of
the fir timber which had been in some parts substituted
for oak. The perishable material, fir, had been introduced
in consequence of the great and increasing scarcity of oak
at the time when she was built ; and, in point of fact, that
so perishable a material as fir should have been found to
last for eighteen years was in itself a beneficial result of
the experiment.

LETTER TO MR. CROKER. 315

On looking over the most authentic accounts of the
duration of vessels of war in time of war, it appeared
that eight years was the average. The average dura-
tion (and always in actual service) of Sir Samuel's ex-
perimental vessels was twelve years and a half ; that is,
half as long again as vessels of the ordinary construction,
although these were built of the more durable material —
oak, whilst some very essential parts of Sir Samuel's
were of fir. Scouted and despised as they were at first,
they have fortunately served as models for the introduc-
tion of some of the most important improvements that
have yet been made in naval architecture : for example,
diagonal braces, lined bulk-heads, metallic water tanks,
&c. &c.

On the 7th March, 1828, he addressed a letter to
Mr. Croker, on the subject of the transport service, in
which, among other suggestions, he remarked more par-
ticularly that in times of peace, if, instead of having
vessels for any transport or packet service, vessels of war
were, instead of lying in ordinary, to be employed for ser-
vices of all kinds, the annual saving would amount to
about 200,000?. He subjoined the estimates by which
these savings were made manifest, and added a short
notice of some of the collateral advantages that would
result from the adoption of his proposal. This pro-
posal, grounded as it was on the incontrovertible evi-
dence afforded by the estimates which he furnished, had
its effect at the Admiralty ; and Government vessels have
since then been more or less employed for transport and
packet service. As yet, however, it has only been by de-
grees, and to a limited extent, that the measure has been
adopted.

On April 13th he furnished in writing a view of savings
that might be effected by manufacturing a great variety of
articles on Government account, instead of procuring them
in a manufactured state, stating the principal sources from

316 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

which those savings would arise. Among these sources
are command of capital at a less rate of interest than
that at which it can be procured by private manufacturers ;
better insurance against disuse of an article, for pro-
curing which capital has been sunk; and the saving
which Grovernment would derive on the breaking out
of war from having a skeleton establishment of the best
working hands, for which there is always abundant em-
ployment in time of peace, and who would be ready,
by the help of inferior hands, to carry on works to the
extent required in war ; security against evasive construc-
tions of the terms of contract, — for instance, in regard
to so-called improved copper sheathing, it was stipulated
that, should any of it be found to have decayed within
a certain period, the contractor was to provide new
sheathing in lieu of the defective. In such a case the
contractor was expected to have returned a sheet of new
for every decayed one; but instead of that, by what
might be called a quibble on the words of the contract,
he could only be made to return a weight of new
equal to the weight of what remained of the corroded
sheets.

It happened that the chairman of the committee, Sir
Henry Parnell, entertained a most decided opinion that it
was impossible for Grovernment to mauufacture any article
so cheap as it could be obtained by contract, so that Sir
Samuel was not called on to give evidence on this sub-
ject, — one on which he, of all other men, was best in-
formed.

He again attempted to draw attention to that great
oversight in regard to finance — the taking no account of
the value of interest on monies expended in public works —
an oversight which Sir Samuel had embraced every oppor-
tunity of bringing to notice for above forty years. He
had made his representations on the subject in a variety of
forms. He now urged in a few short axioms: —

PUBLICATION OF HIS " NAVAL PAPEKS." 317

" 1st. That no work should be undertaken that will not
produce an advantage equivalent to the expense it occa-
sions."

" 2ndly. That the advantage of a work may in all cases
be measured by a yearly value in money, generally arith-
metically demonstrable, when otherwise capable of easy
estimation."

" 3rdly. That it is not worth while to sink a capital on
any public work, unless the yearly value of it, when ob-
tained, be equal to 8 per cent, on the capital sunk, — that
is, 5 per cent, for the simple average interest of the money
sunk, and 3 per cent, to compensate for wear and tear of
the work, together with the chance of its utility being
superseded by some of the many circumstances which, at
a future time, render works comparatively less perfect or
less needful than at the time of their construction."
Still his endeavours proved of no avail ; and indeed,
up to the present moment, this great desideratum in
the management of public money remains wholly disre-
garded.

Sir Samuel's chief occupation for some time had been
the preparing for the press the first of his projected naval
essays ; and he also caused to be published several of his
official letters, under the title of " Naval Papers." These
publications are now out of print ; and the edition was
but small. Many copies were distributed to present and
former members of Administration; but they have be-
come exceedingly scarce, although they are to be found
in the library of the United Service Club, and some other
public establishments ; and a critique of them appeared in
page 306 of the first part of the "United Service Journal"
for 1829. The appearance of that critique drew his atten-
tion to the " United Service Journal," and observing in it
" a biographical sketch of Paul Jones," containing many
mis-statements, Sir Samuel furnished the editor with

318 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

an account of the actions in the Liman, in which Paul
Jones had so falsely ascribed to himself the glorious re-
sult of the three actions in question.

About this time the question happened to be mooted,
how far one of the reasons stated for the abolition of the
office of Inspector-General of Navy Works had been well
founded, namely, the uncompensated expense it had oc-
casioned ? This led to the mention of a variety of services
which it had performed, and which were now paid for at
a greater amount of cost, and to a calculation and state-
ment of how far that establishment alone went, by the
savings it had produced, towards payment of the officers in
the Inspector-Greneral of Navy Works' office. It appeared
that on the 1st January, 1812, the capital sunk on the metal
mills had been all of it, by degrees, paid off by the profits
of the mills, together with all interest and compound
interest on that capital, as well as all debts of every
kind ; that there then remained in hand, in money and
money's worth, upon the premises to the value of 68,215?.,
this capital having been created for the public by the In-
spector-Greneral of Navy Works. This sum was then taken
as if it had been put out to interest from that time to the
end of 1827, for the purpose of creating a fund for the
re-establishment of that office, when the capital and in-
terest upon it, compounded half-yearly, were found to
amount to 1,257,6 \5l. The salaries of the Inspector-
Greneral of Navy Works and of the officers of that office
amounted to 3000?. a year ; a perpetual annuity to that
amount purchased in the 3 per cent. Consols, at the then
price (85 per cent.) would have cost 255,000/. ; so that the
metal mills had not only provided for the re-establish-
ment of that office in perpetuity, but had, besides, created
a surplus of above a million.

During the leisure of late years, Sir Samuel had re-
flected much on the uncertainty that existed as to the

CONSIDERATION OF EXPERIMENTS. 319

form best suited for a navigable vessel. He had, it is true,
so far succeeded in that which he devised for his experi-
mental vessels, as to have rendered them in every respect
better sea boats than any vessels with which they had been
brought into comparison ; and he now saw, with satisfaction,
that the best steam-boats had been constructed like his
vessels in several particulars of form. Still, on considering
experiments that had been made on a small scale, it seemed
that a variety of influencing circumstances had never
been taken into account, — such as friction on the pulleys or
other apparatus used in measuring velocity, the effect of
wind on the body to be moved, and the weight of the body
itself. In regard to experiments on vessels themselves, the
difference in speed even, consequent on form alone, re-
mained still unascertained.

It appeared to him that the costliness of experiments
made by means of vessels of war must necessarily in
future prove a bar, as it had already done, to their
being carried to any extent, but that very important
results might be obtained by means of models on a
small scale. He, therefore, considered various modes of
experimenting with this view, and devised a very simple
and inexpensive apparatus, by means of which several im-
portant particulars as to form might be ascertained. This
done, he considered that, without pecuniary loss, the forms
that had proved most advantageous in models might be
given next to small craft ; and so the experience afforded
by their means would furnish data to be depended on for
improving vessels of the greatest bulk.

Since Sir Samuel's return home, he had the gratifica-
tion to find that much of former jealousy had worn away.
His communications with many members of naval ad-
ministration had been very flattering, and there appeared
much disposition to profit by his suggestions. Place, or
pecuniary reward for his exertions, he disclaimed ; but

320 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

when he had devised the means for making the experi-
ments in question, he volunteered to direct the execution
of them. To the Navy Board, which seemed at that time
to have it most in their power to carry out such a course
of experiments, he addressed several papers, which deter-
mined them to authorise the commencement, under his
direction, of the set of experiments which he had sug-
gested.

A considerable portion of his time was now devoted to
the perfecting the details relative to the intended course
of experiments, and in contriving a variety of instruments
or meters, for measuring accurately on board ship the
several circumstances both as influencing and indicating
its progressive motion and direction ; he also continued to
employ himself in writing his second Naval Essay.

On the 7th February he addressed the Admiralty on
the subject of the pay of the navy. He observed, that the
plan which he now offered for the payment of the military
branch of the service was formed on the same principles
as that which he had proposed, thirty years before, for the
payment of operatives engaged in the naval arsenals ; and
that the general satisfaction which that mode had given,
adopted as it had been for the operatives in the arsenals,
led him to flatter himself that a similar plan for paying \\
the military personnel, might be thought worthy of con-
sideration.

On the 21st February, the Secretary of the Admiralty
acquainted him that their Lordships had submitted his
letter on this subject to the Right Honourable C. Poulett
Thomson for his consideration and report. Sir Samuel was
delighted at this determination, so conformable to the
practice he had advocated of obtaining individual opinions,
in a form which led to discussion, and the investigation of
any measure, so as to afford just grounds either for its re-
jection, adoption, or modification.

HIS FINAL EFFORTS. S21

The proposed experiments for ascertaining the best form
for navigable vessels afford a striking example of the diffi-
culties that stand in the way of making any course of ex-
periments in naval arsenals. The Admiralty were known
to be highly favourable to those which Sir Samuel had
proposed. Sir Samuel, therefore, applied to the Comp-
troller, requesting him to point out the persons to whom,
conformably to his and the Surveyor's wishes, he should
apply on the subject; the Comptroller, thereupon, informed
him that application must be made to the superior au-
thority. Sir Samuel at first intended to request Sir J.
Graham to indicate the course which he should now pur-
sue; but although not personally acquainted with Mr.
Laing, of Deptford Dockyard, yet, apprised of his zeal,
talents, and skill, he sought to induce him to join in his
experiments; to which he readily assented. It was then
considered whether, in compliance with custom (bad as
that custom was), a committee should be formed to carry
Sir Samuel's plan into practice, — this committee to con-
sist of Sir Byam Martin, Captain Beaufort, and Mr. Laing.
Sir Samuel, however, though he would gladly have in-
trusted it to any one of these gentlemen, hesitated in giving
assent to any joint assemblage of persons for the execution
of any specific service, and was himself engaged in making-
preparations at Mr. Maudsley's, who kindly offered the
use of his manufactory, and incurred some expense in
preparing models of the apparatus to be used. But Mr.
Maudsley became seriously ill and died. Sir Samuel also
began to suffer from the effects of bleeding, which had
been necessary after an accident he met with during
the preceding autumn, and his death took place on
the 31st May, 1831, at his residence, 2 Lower Connaught
Place.

Thus ended a career perhaps unexampled in the variety
and extent of the improvements which he had devised dur-

Y

322 LIFE OF SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

insf a Ions and active life as a naval architect, as a civil
engineer, as a mechanist, and especially as the contriver
of regulations to correct abuses in the civil service of the
country.

THE END.

LONDON

•■KIM HI) BY Sl'OTTISWOODB AND CO.

NEW-STUliET SQUABB

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